Cathartik
by Flamerist
Summary: Gaara is the outcast at Konoha high, yet seems to have caught the attention of the school's most popular boy; Uchiha Sasuke. Will he find true love with Sasuke? A story of lust, loss and love. AU high school fic. Warning: Contains yaoi lemony goodness
1. Chapter 1

A/N: My new fanfic! Hopefully you'll like it! This is the first partial lemon that I've written, so please go easy on me!

Warning: This story contains yaoi. If you don't know what yaoi is or don't like it, don't read, don't flame. This is rated M for a reason people! This will have lemons and swearing and violence!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other copyrighted material in this fanfic.

* * *

**Part One: Lust**

Gaara meandered down the halls of Konoha High School, gripping his black binder with a white snowflake on the front loosely in his left hand, while resting his right where the strap of his satchel met the fabric of the bag. He noticed that the corridors were unusually empty and pondered that until he remembered. Uchiha Sasuke's team was playing soccer that day. Gaara snorted and quickened his pace until he reached an exit and, from there, made his way down to the willow tree he always spent his lunch-breaks with. He rarely ate more than half of the tuna sandwich his sister always packed him, instead using it to lure the sparrows and robins closer to him.

When Gaara reached his willow tree today though, something was different. A boy with raven hair and extremely pale skin leaned against the trunk of his tree, garbed in a high-collared, black shirt and black shorts. Gaara's heart fluttered at the sight. Uchiha Sasuke. He mentally told it to behave normally and continued down to his tree where he sat down in his usual spot. He didn't look at Sasuke, but could tell that the boy was smirking at him. He was about to ask what was so funny when Sasuke suddenly knelt down in front of him. Gaara looked up and unconsciously leaned further back into the tree.

"You're Sabaku no Gaara?" His voice was smooth and alluring and although he had asked a question, it sounded more like a statement. "My name's Uchiha Sasuke, though I suppose you already knew that," here he smirked at Gaara flirtatiously. Gaara just inclined his head slightly. "Do you have a girlfriend, Gaara?" He asked with mock innocence. Gaara shook his head and looked away from those amused onyx pools, if he wasn't careful, he'd do something stupid. "You don't talk much do you? You shouldn't sit here all alone, something might happen to you. There are some weird people around," Sasuke leaned in closer and turned Gaara's head towards him, forcing his gaze back to those black coals. "You should be careful. If you want, you can always come and sit next to me," Sasuke raised one eyebrow suggestively. "Well, I guess I'll see you around." With that, he got up and sauntered off. Gaara couldn't stop staring at his ass as he walked around the side of the building.

"Shit," Gaara muttered to himself. There was no way that _the _Uchiha Sasuke had just flirted with him. Gaara must have just misinterpreted what he had been saying. Yeah that was it. Gaara ate his half-a-sandwich before the bell went, then made his way to his English class where he sat at the back, next to the window, knowing that the seat next to him would stay empty. Five minutes into the period, a messenger came around and the teacher beckoned Gaara forward.

"Gaara, follow Deidara here to the Guidance Counsellor's office. The dean has made an appointment for you." Gaara silently followed the blonde boy down several corridors and into a waiting area where he was instructed to knock on a door that had the name Tsunade printed on the glass. Within moments, a woman's voice called out for him to come in. Gaara did as he was bid and entered plain room furnished with a dark blue desk and two black armchairs sitting in front of it, while behind it was a blonde woman with ample bosom seated on a dark green swivel office chair.

"Hello, Gaara. My name's Tsunade and I am the school guidance counsellor. Now do you have any questions before we begin?" Gaara considered asking what size cup she wore but thought better of it, instead settling for shaking his head. "Good. Well, you've been elected by another student to come to this office three times a week to talk for a period. I'm going to ask you questions and I want you to answer as honestly as possible. Okay?" Gaara nodded mutely, wondering who in the world even knew he existed, let alone cared enough about him to worry about his mindset. "Are you a happy person?"

Gaara thought for a moment before replying. "I'm happy sometimes and I'm unhappy sometimes." Tsunade made a humming noise at this and proceeded to the next question.

"Do you like yourself?"

"I don't... not like myself." Gaara's answers seemed to be irritating the blonde woman as she frowned at this and all but glared at him.

"Who is your best friend?" Tsunade's question bit at Gaara and caused his face to darken and him to glare at the woman.

"I do not have any friends," Gaara's words were calm and indifferent but the woman relaxed somewhat, she was finally getting real answers after all. Gaara crossed his arms over his chest and gave her a look that quite plainly said: 'I'm mentally killing you wench.' Tsunade took no notice.

"Have you ever considered killing yourself?" Tsunade's eyes were intent this time, expecting a 'yes'.

"I have never contemplated suicide," Gaara said monotonously. It was perfectly true, of course. Gaara just fantasised about killing annoying people, but at the same time, that was only a façade and he would never willingly hurt anything. Tsunade seemed somewhat annoyed with his answer and her questions moved back to lighter subjects such as schoolwork and his interests. He endured the period then began the long walk home. As usual, he ignored the catcalls and insults thrown at him and instead focused his thoughts on Sasuke. How close he had been. How he had touched Gaara's face. Gaara sighed contentedly. Then it started to rain. Gaara was still twenty minutes brisk walk from home when it started to pour.

---------0o---------

By now Gaara was feeling rather wretched and was soaked to the skin. A black car pulled up next to him on the sidewalk. The driver's door opened and Sasuke poked his head out. "Need a ride?" He smirked as Gaara nodded and climbed in next to him. Sasuke pulled away from the curb after receiving instructions from Gaara on how to get to his house. "You're completely soaked," Sasuke observed as Gaara shivered next to him. "My house is closer, you could borrow some clothes if you want." Gaara stared suspiciously at Sasuke. Sure he wanted to get warm faster, but he wasn't sure if he could trust Sasuke. But Sasuke did give him a ride, and Gaara was probably just being stupid, why would Sasuke want to do anything to him?

"Okay," Gaara replied and Sasuke smiled sexily at him before turning down a side road and pulling up in front of a giant mansion. "You live here?" Gaara couldn't hide the amazement in his voice. Sasuke just smirked again and led Gaara to the front door and unlocked it before leading Gaara up to his bedroom so he could get changed. After Gaara had chosen his clothes out he turned around and nearly screamed. In front of him was a naked Sasuke holding a towel, apparently about to go have a shower. "Oh! Sorry Sasuke!" Gaara quickly whipped around and heard Sasuke chuckle.

"Come on, Gaara. You need to have a shower or you'll get a cold. The only shower we can use right now is the one down the hall. It has two shower-heads so we can shower at the same time. There's no need to be embarrassed," Sasuke said all of this as he was pulling Gaara down to the bathroom by the hand and Gaara was too busy staring at Sasuke's beautiful body and then blushing for looking to really care. Gaara then found himself undressing and walking over to a shower and turning it on. He was trying to not get a full erection and failing miserably when Sasuke came up behind him and reached past him to get the shampoo. Gaara now had a terribly obvious hard-on and because Sasuke had eyes and was a pervert, he only smirked when he noticed.

"Sorry," Gaara muttered when he saw Sasuke had noticed. Sasuke's smile just widened and he moved so Gaara could see his own very hard cock. Gaara gasped slightly as Sasuke leaned in and kissed him passionately, rubbing their erections together in the process. Sasuke's hands trailed down Gaara's chest to his cock and began to stroke him.

"Don't be," he whispered seductively, sucking Gaara's neck before moving down to do the same to his left nipple, loving the moans escaping the redhead. His mouth then travelled down to Gaara's cock which he kissed before taking the head into his mouth and sucking softly at first, but then with more vigour as Gaara groaned and fisted Sasuke's ebony locks. Sasuke hummed around the throbbing organ, causing Gaara to moan and thrust into his mouth.

"Aaah! Sasu-Sasuke! I'm gonna cuuuum!" Gaara yelled out as he spilled his seeds into Sasuke's mouth, which swallowed them hungrily. Gaara collapsed to the ground in front of Sasuke and began to suck on his cock. Sasuke moaned loudly and thrust into Gaara's hungry mouth, setting a rhythm which Gaara matched by bobbing his head up and down. Sasuke suddenly tensed and pulled out of Gaara's mouth slightly, only to thrust in again the whole way.

"Fuuuuuuuck! Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaara!" He screamed and came into the back of Gaara's throat. Gaara swallowed all he was offered and smiled up at Sasuke who pulled him up into a gentle kiss...

---------0o---------

"Gaara! You're soaked!" Temari yelled, snapping him of his lustful daydream. Gaara sighed and trudged up to his room and got changed. It had been so vivid. Gaara could've sworn that he had actually been to Sasuke's and they had really done all those wonderful things to each other. But it had only been a dream. He would never get to taste that beautiful skin or be touched like that by Sasuke. He sighed again and walked downstairs to help Temari with dinner.

After dinner, Gaara helped clean the dishes before going up to his room to draw. He allowed his mind to wander and of course it returned to the dream and Sasuke. He wondered if Sasuke had really been flirting with him today or if it had just been some joke or dare. Gaara's pencil moved across the paper, making a soft rustling sound. Gaara thought back to when they had all been children, no older than five or six and Gaara had first met Sasuke. That was before the children started judging him and calling him a freak. He missed those times. Gaara stared down at his now completed drawing of Sasuke naked, going down on Gaara while masturbating. Gaara was so aroused by this picture that he walked over to his door and locked it before returning to lie on his bed.

Gaara pulled off his shirt and unbuckled his pants, slipping a hand inside to rub his cock. Images from his dream came to his mind and he pulled his jeans down slightly to give him more leverage and pulled his throbbing member out through the fly of his black satin boxers. He began to stroke up and down its length with his right hand and with his left, began to pinch and play with his left nipple. His breath became laboured and he began to softly moan out Sasuke's name. In his head he was replaying his imagination's interpretation of Sasuke's naked and hard form. His body tensed and he arched his back as he shot his load all over his stomach and hand.

After cleaning himself up with a tissue, Gaara got changed into his light pyjamas and bid goodnight to his siblings before climbing into his bed and reflecting on the past day. It certainly had been strange. First, Sasuke had talked to him, then someone had told the dean that he needed counselling then he had had perverted thoughts about Sasuke for hours. Was this usual for a teenage boy? To be so lustful all the time? It was silly. Gaara sighed, turned off his light and rolled onto his stomach. He seemed to only have one thing on his mind of late, it was irritating. He hadn't been this horny...well ever as far as he knew. He rolled his eyes skyward at his own stupidity before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.

* * *

A/N: So what did you think? I quite like it. Please Read and Review! 


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I'm so sorry it took me so long to update but I had major writer's block. And I was busy writing other things. And I'm sorry the chapter's so short and crappy but it's important.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other copyrighted material in here.

* * *

Gaara was dreading school that day with the greatest deal of trepidation humanly possible to feel. For on this day of all days, he would have to perform his dance in front of his entire Performing Arts class. He sighed dramatically. His dance was perfect, but that was no reason to show it to the rest of the world. He would have been quite content to just keep the dance as his own personal thing that only he ever need see. But the teacher would never allow that, the stupid cow. He sighed once again, before performing the menial task of getting dressed.

After collecting his school bag and lunch from their respective places, Gaara climbed into Temari's small, red Toyota and arrived at school five or so odd minutes before the bell, as usual. He walked to his Performing Arts classroom and waited for the teacher to get there. When she finally arrived, the rest of the class had accumulated in Gaara's direct vicinity but not close enough for anyone to mistake them for standing _with_ him. He was used to this kind of treatment, however, and didn't even really notice. The class went and got changed, Gaara proffering to change on his own, far away from the other boys in his class. He then watched a few of the other students' dances with polite interest, but didn't really care very much, if he was truly honest. Also, most of the music they were dancing to was disturbing him with its low quality. Unexpectedly, the only person showing even the slightest talent, in Gaara's opinion, was Hyuuga Hinata.

She was dancing to Everytime We Touch by Cascada, and Gaara was truly amazed as her feet beat out the bass of the song and her body moved smoothly, gracefully daring in her motions. Gaara sincerely clapped as Hinata sat down. However, his face fell as he realised that it was his turn next. He stood up and put his CD into the mini-stereo before pressing play and walking into the middle of the floor. As the music softly began, Gaara started to move.

The song was Sin by Nine Inch Nails and Gaara was moving in perfect harmony with the music, his movements were fast and expressive, showing exactly what the song meant to him.

You give me the reason.  
You give me control.  
I gave you my purity.  
My purity you stole.  
Did you think I wouldn't recognize this compromise.  
Am I just too stupid to realize.  
Stale incense old sweat and lies, lies, lies

It comes down to this.  
Your kiss.  
Your fist.  
And your strain.  
It gets under my skin.  
Within.  
Take in the extent of my sin

Gaara allowed the music to just take complete control and, without even realising it, performed several leaping summersaults and extremely daring motions that had the class gasping, not that he noticed.

You give me the anger.  
You give me the nerve.  
Carry out the sentence.  
I get what I deserve.  
Im just an effigy to be disgraced.  
To be defaced.  
Your need for me has been replaced.  
And if I can't have everything well then just give me a taste.

It comes down to this.  
Your kiss.  
Your fist.  
And your strain.  
It gets under my skin.  
Within.  
Take in the extent of my sin

Gaara span around and landed gracefully on one knee, with his arms spread and resting to either side of him and his face down. He had intended to just stay like that, but then he heard the applause. It was not just ordinary clapping, this had whoops and shouts and exclamations of admiration. Gaara looked up to see the rest of his class open-mouthed while several people, including Hinata, Akamichi Chouji and the teacher, standing and clapping loudly.

Gaara stared at the few clapping with a very confused look on his face, before Yamanaka Ino laughed and pointed at him. "He's such a pansy! He dances like a girl!" To which majority of the class laughed, except for a boy with a spiky ponytail at the back, who turned to the blonde girl.

"Ino, just because you dance like a hippopotamus on crack, doesn't mean that you have any right to insult anyone. If anything, it takes away that right," Nara Shikamaru said dismissively. Ino glared at him, but blushed and shut her mouth. The teacher then approached Gaara, who was, by now, taking his CD out of the stereo and putting it back into its case and then into his bag.

"Gaara, I think you should join the dance club. That dance you just did was stunning, and it would be a shame to let such talent go to waste. I've also suggested it to Hinata, you should go together. It's in room 43 tomorrow at lunch time. They're holding auditions for new members, I'd really like you to go," Ms Yuhi said softly to Gaara before the bell tolled, signalling the end of the period. There was a great rush to get changed and get to the next class, which for Gaara was Art.

Gaara liked Art. Not just because he was naturally good at it, or because the teacher, Mr Umino, was nice to him, but because it was always amusing to see the rest of the class crowd into seats on the tables away from the one Gaara sat at and even the ones either side. When he realised this, Gaara would deliberately sit at the largest table, which was conveniently flanked by the two next largest tables, leaving the other twenty or so students to crowd around the remaining two, fairly cramped tables. Only one person ever sat at one of the tables to the side of him; a boy that looked remarkably like a girl with long dark hair and a soft expression. His name was Haku, and Gaara had never heard a surname. He got a lot of crap from the other students but he just laughed pleasantly and told them that he liked sitting there, it had more sun and he had an excellent view of the school's flower garden, which it was famous for. However, Gaara was sure that Haku just didn't want Gaara to be completely alone. Or maybe Haku just liked his solitude at the quiet side table.

"Alright, class," Mr. Umino said, standing at the front of the class after giving the crowding students a disparaging look. "Today we'll be doing pieces that express you, the way you see yourself, as a landscape picture. You can use any media you like. We'll be spending the next few lessons on these so I want your best work. Don't be afraid to ask for help, but try not to talk too much. You can start now." Gaara got a piece of canvas from the back room and sat down in front of it with a pencil and refill, doing a draft first. He sketched a dark, withered tree that would look dead if it weren't for the beautiful red blossoms blooming amongst the dead branches. The tree was situated at the top of a hill in the middle of a cemetery and was fenced-off with a wrought iron fence riddled with spiky vines of hemlock and ivy with purple flowers dotting it at regular intervals.

"That's dark." A voice came from behind him. It was soft and melodic, carrying a tone of calm amusement and friendliness. Gaara glanced behind him to see Haku, carrying a brush and a box full of paints. Gaara stared at the paint lids with mild bemusement. By the edge of the box, the colours were all light tones of colours, then came darker tones of the same colours and in the very centre was a single pot of black paint. At a glance, it looked like a multi-coloured flower. "I don't know what it says about your self-esteem, but at least it looks nice. And that's what's important in this day and age isn't it?" Haku's voice sounded bitter and he cast a scornful glance over a few of their classmates who were shooting them filthy looks. "Ah, well. Talk to you later, Gaara." With that, Haku strode back to his seat, leaving Gaara to wonder why the boy spoke to him. He mentally shrugged and pulled out his iPod, playing the song The Bitter End by Placebo.

Gaara was still confused about Haku's actions when he went to his tree that day. Why had the boy spoken to him? He hadn't been spoken to kindly by another student for years; Sasuke's strange behaviour yesterday didn't count as that was obviously just some sick joke to make fun of him. Perhaps Haku had been dared to do it as a joke...? No, he didn't seem the type of person to do something like that...Then what could it possibly be? The thought of him just being a kind person didn't even occur to him, only his family had ever been truly kind to him. He sighed and ate the usual half a sandwich before the bell tolled and he walked to his final class of the day; History. He sat through the tedium, ignoring the rude notes that piled up on his desk, not even bothering to read them. After class, Gaara calmly collected the notes and put them in the paper recycle bin before turning around to find himself greeted by Hinata.

"H-hello, Gaara," she stuttered "I w-was w-wondering if y-you were g-going to try out for the d-dance club...?" She trailed off, blushing and looking down. Gaara stared in amazement at the girl for a few moments until he realised that this would only make the girl more nervous, so he responded.

"Yes, I suppose I will. Is there any reason you wanted to know?" Gaara asked awkwardly, these were the first words he had spoken since that morning, after all.

"I thought t-that m-maybe you w-would like to audition w-with me..." Hinata responded, not looking at Gaara. He could almost feel the embarrassment radiating off her.

"Uh, yes... sure. If you want to, I don't mind," Gaara replied with a slight smile at the shy girl. He was very much relieved when she smiled a small smile back and nodded before rushing off to walk with her friend. Gaara stared after her for a moment before mentally shaking himself and starting the walk home. Although it had rained a lot yesterday and the sky was still full of dark clouds, it didn't rain as Gaara trudged back home. He felt like he had forgotten something...He was sure Temari had said something to him before he got out of the car that morning... That he was not to forget...Not to forget...He strained his memory, but still drew up a blank. He was still pondering this when he reached his back gate and a clear voice rang out through from the open front door.

"Gyahahahahaha! I was only pretending to be dead!" Gaara's face lit up as a large grin when he heard this; Grandma Chiyo had arrived.

* * *

A/N: Hope you liked it! Please read and review and tell me what you think. I hope to update again soon... 


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Okay. I have no excuse for taking so long to update. So I'm not even gonna bother lying to you people. However, you should be happy with this seeing as it is over 4000 words long, my longest chapter to date. Also it has a lot of important stuff happening in it. Okay so please forgive me for the long wait!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. Nor do I own any other copyrighted material that may or may not be featured in the following.

Warning: Extreme OOCness and crappy attempts at humour and plot development.

* * *

Gaara walked through his front door with a large smile on his face. His grandmother was here! He hadn't seen her in almost a year now, the last time she had come to stay they had ended up being kicked out of the mall for inappropriate behaviour and disturbing the peace. He wondered what insanity they would get up to this time...He didn't have to wait long. 

"Gaara!" His grandmother shouted as soon as she saw him before pulling him into a hug. "Look! We're having a Mexican-themed month this month! Here's your Sombrero and Maracas!" She exclaimed excitedly, jamming a large hat onto his head and shoving the musical instruments into his hands. Everyone stared at the woman for a few minutes before she cracked up laughing and used the tired old 'V for victory' sign. "Heeheeheehee! I was only pretending to be stupid!" Gaara was the first to start laughing at his grandmother's antics. His sister and brother soon joined him and then another laugh echoed throughout the house. Gaara only then realised that his cousin Sasori was there.

"Sasori!" He yelled and glomped the unfortunate youth. "How long have you been there?!" He jittered, still clinging to the older boy. This was one of the only times Gaara got to express his extroverted tendencies and like hell was he going to miss his chance!

"The entire time, Gaara-chan," Sasori replied with a look of mock hurt. "I can't believe you didn't notice me! You're gonna make me turn emo!" He shouted dramatically and Gaara stopped hugging him with a look of disgust. "No! You have to hug me! I'm an emo, hug me! I need attention! Gaa-chan!!!!" Sasori yelled and began chasing Gaara around the house, every now and then yelling things like: "I need to be NOTICED!!!!" and "I cut myself to feel alive!" or my personal favourite: "There is no god! If there was he'd buy me skinny jeans!"

Eventually, Sasori caught Gaara and tackled him, although Gaara playfully slapped him round the head and said: "Stop crying you little potato!" to which Sasori burst into laughter and collapsed upon Gaara, unable to support himself anymore. After they had all sufficiently recovered from their giggling fits, they got down to the real reason Chiyo-Baachan and Sasori were visiting.

"We'll be visiting the cemetery on the 24th as it's the Saturday closest to the real date. Was the agreement that you could bring a friend this time?" Chiyo asked the teenagers, to which three of them nodded eagerly but Gaara just shrugged; he had no one to invite. Chiyo noticed but decided now wasn't the time to discuss Gaara's social skills. "Alright then, but only someone you truly trust. We don't want anything to go wrong that we can physically stop. So we have 23 days to plan!" Chiyo stopped speaking and the talk returned to lighter subjects like how Ville Valo resembles nothing more than an emaciated wombat. Gaara suddenly felt he needed a shower and so excused himself from the conversation.

As he stepped under the warm jet of water, he felt a great heat wash over him that had nothing to do with the shower. Gaara suddenly noticed he was becoming hard. "What? Again?" Gaara demanded of nothing in particular. Hadn't he masturbated yesterday? This had to be some sort of conspiracy, never had he been this horny all the time! He eventually decided to ignore his penis, hoping against hope that it would calm down. It did and he breathed a sigh of relief and got on with massaging shampoo into his hair.

Gaara felt a lot better after his shower and so went downstairs to see what was for dinner. As he descended the beautiful aroma of butter chicken wafted past his nose, making him speed up his pace. He entered the kitchen to find his grandmother standing in front of a frying pan full of gently bubbling orange liquid full of small lumps of chicken and a steaming pot, presumably full of rice. Gaara walked over to the kitchen table and began to set it, collecting an extra chair from the computer. Gaara always set the table. Always. It was a commemoration to the fact that his mother had trusted him to do that when he was younger. Just because she was gone, shouldn't mean that she couldn't trust Gaara anymore, he would live up to her expectations, even though she wouldn't know. Because that's what morals are, aren't they? The desire to do something because you believe it is right, not to impress others. _That's probably where Christianity fails_, Gaara thought to himself. _People should be good without the promise of Heaven, just because it's the right thing to do. _

After dinner, Gaara sat and talked with the others for a while before excusing himself to go draw something. He drew every night; it was his way of calming down to go to sleep. Tonight he just let the pencil take control, allowing himself to be completely absorbed by his drawing, so much so that he stopped thinking. When he was finished an image of Haku was in front of him. He was standing in the middle of a field with one hand outstretched, offering Gaara the gentian flower it gently held aloft. With the other hand he held a basket full of flowers. Gaara stared at the drawing for a few moments. Why did he just draw a picture of Haku? Much less Haku entirely effeminate in a purple Kimono holding flowers. What the hell was up with that anyway?! Gaara sighed and decided he'd worry about it later. Now it was time for him to go to sleep. He pulled himself downstairs to say goodnight to his family before brushing his teeth and getting undressed. He habitually wore a t-shirt and boxers to bed but tonight was far too hot. He decided to forego the t-shirt and just sleep in boxers.

Unfortunately for Gaara, his body was a pervert and seemed to be aroused by his near-nudity. _I'm not getting undressed for_ that Gaara thought to himself. But regardless, his body seemed to have decided that now was the time for either sex or castration. Gaara actually considered the latter option for a few seconds before deciding to hell with it. He grabbed his dick which was now sticking out of the fly in his boxers and began to stroke himself. Without hesitation his thoughts returned to Uchiha Sasuke. He remembered from a while ago when the school was forced to watch the final soccer game of the season, Sasuke had played in white shorts and Gaara had had a nice view of his ass. Using that image as a focus point, Gaara's mind began to do some very perverted things to Sasuke's clothes before moving on to Sasuke himself. Soon after imagining rubbing his cheek teasingly over Sasuke's covered erection, Gaara climaxed and had to fetch tissues from under his bed to clean himself up before drifting easily and quickly into a deep slumber. Go figure.

Gaara was very nervous the next day. He was auditioning for the Dance Club today, along with his second meeting with the guidance counsellor. It was not going to be fun. He half-hoped that he wouldn't make the try-outs or that Hinata would back out; he was only auditioning because he promised her he would. His father had always said that even if a man had nothing else, he could have his honour. Gaara tried to live by that axiom in all aspects of life so he couldn't let Hinata down. However, he really hoped she wasn't as proud as he was...

Once Gaara arrived at school he was in his usual, impassive state of apathy. Or that's what the world saw, but it had taken him years to perfect that well-crafted mask and every so often a crack would form and his true emotions would show, even if only slightly before the crack was repaired and his façade was perfect once more. Gaara was earlier than usual and so sat down on one of the benches placed around the school at regular intervals. To his surprise someone came and sat next to him.

"Good morning, Gaara," Haku's soft voice said quietly and Gaara turned to the feminine boy. Haku nodded encouragingly and Gaara realised he wanted him to say something back.

"Hello," Gaara said awkwardly. "Uh, why are you speaking to me?" Haku laughed at the question, but it wasn't a mocking laugh, it was genuine amusement.

"Because you seem like an interesting person which is more than I can say for most of the idiots around here. And because you never talk. I think that hello was the first word I've ever heard you say to a student. I just think that everyone should have someone they want to talk to, you know?" Haku said with a far away look in his eye before smiling and turning back to Gaara. "Anyway, good luck with the dance try-outs. See you later." And with that, Haku walked away. It was only a few minutes later that Gaara realised that he had never mentioned the dance try-outs to Haku. A shiver ran up his spine so he quickly got up and walked to his first period class. The early morning classes passed horrifically rapidly and so it was with a heavy heart that Gaara went to Art, after break that day. He couldn't concentrate on his painting properly so only did tasks that left no room for creative embellishment.

His thoughts were on what Haku had said to him this morning. That everyone needs someone to talk to, or something like that. He has a terrible memory. But did Gaara have anyone like that? Did he really have anything to talk about? Well, obviously this deserved great reflection so Gaara added it to his things-to-ponder list and put it out of his mind. As Gaara was walking back to his canvas from putting his paints back, he glanced at Haku's picture. Sketched on a white piece of thick paper was the likeness of a field covered in flowers. Each and every flower was perfect and meticulously detailed. In the middle of the field was an outline of a person's decapitated head speared onto the end of a bloody sword supported by a purple ribbon hanging from a sketched tree. From every branch of the tree, a different head was strung in the same manner. It was then that Gaara realised the first head was similar to Haku's own, only older and more feminine. _His mother_, a voice in his head stated matter-of-factly. Gaara heard a coughing sound from behind him and turned around to see Haku.

"I'd prefer if you didn't look at it until it's finished," He said with a smile but Gaara caught a sense of _or else_ behind Haku's gentle tone. Not wanting to aggravate the boy, Gaara just nodded and finished clearing away his equipment and placing his canvas in the store room to dry. After art was lunch, the moment of reckoning. Hinata approached Gaara and together the two silently walked to room 43.

When they reached the classroom door and Gaara tentatively turned the handle, he noticed two things. The first thing was that the inside of room 43 was unlike any classroom Gaara had ever entered before. With its long, thin rectangular shape, he was reminded of nothing more than a coffin. The two longer sides were covered with mirrors while the short side opposite the door featured a long bar running lengthways along it.

The second was that Akamichi Chouji was inside dancing in front of a desk where two people sat, intently observing his movements. One of them was Haku. The other, a girl with her hair tied in two buns at either side of her head who was tapping her foot and sneering malevolently at Chouji who had finished his dance.

_Like a child about to prod a jellyfish with a stick_, Gaara mused. He, himself thought Chouji had delivered himself with grace belying his size and so felt sure the boy would be accepted into the club. The girl, however, had other ideas.

"That was pathetic!" She spat at the large youth who stared at her with hurt in his eyes. "You think just anyone can join this club? Don't make me laugh! We don't accept trash like you!" She laughed loudly as if there was nothing more amusing that insulting another person.

"That's enough, Tenten!" Haku said sternly to the girl who gave him a dark look. "I think that Chouji delivered himself amicably and should definitely be involved in the performance this year." Tenten laughed again and looked at Chouji like someone might something unpleasant other end of their shoe.

"You're right. He could always move furniture!" She snickered. Gaara saw that Chouji had tears welling up in his eyes and felt an incredible surge of anger towards the malevolent toad before him. "Aw! Look! Fatboy's crying!" Something in Gaara snapped.

"Shut up!" He yelled at the brunette, who turned to look at him, surprised. "What is wrong with you?!" He demanded glaring fiercely at her. "This boy just tried his best and did very well and all you can do is mock him?!"

"Who the hell are you?" Tenten asked, looking him up and down with a slight sneer. "Wait a second, aren't you that faggot, Gaara, who never talks?" she smirked as if this fact proved Gaara's unworthiness. Gaara just stared back evenly, measuring the situation. "I thought you were a freak who didn't say anything. What, are you in love with fatty over there?" Tenten snorted loudly at this and continued to smile maliciously. "Well, ya little gay cock-sucker, how about you and fatty and freaky-hime over there," She motioned to Hinata who was looking at Gaara with a look of admiration. "Go cry home to your mommy?" That was the last straw for Gaara; no one could make mother jokes against him.

"My mother died several years ago. If you dare insult her memory again, I will do everything in my power to hurt you as much as possible," Gaara replied, teeth clenched and eyes wild. There was a grating sound and everyone turned to see Haku standing up. Tenten smiled once again, this time setting her sights on Haku.

"Oh, that's right. Your mommy's dead too!" She cackled loudly.

"TENTEN!" Haku yelled with a mad look in his eye. "If you do not shut your mouth right now, I will shatter each of your teeth and use the fragments to gouge out your eyes. Is that clear?" He asked, his voice receding in volume but not venom. Tenten just stared at him. "IS THAT CLEAR?!" Haku shouted, turning his terrifying eyes on her once more as he repeated the question with a shout. Tenten meekly nodded and Haku took a deep breath and returned to his usual state of decorum. "Good. Now, Chouji, I think that you would prefer it if you were to work mainly backstage with your friend Shikamaru, is that right?" Haku asked in his normal tone of sweet sophistication.

"Yes, Haku-san," Chouji replied politely and Haku smiled at the boy.

"Lovely. Now, Hinata, Gaara. Ms Yuhi tells me that you are both exceptional dancers and wish to join our club. Would you mind doing a short performance for us so that we can judge you? That'll be perfect, thank you," Haku stated, smoothly moving the topic away from Chouji and over to Gaara and Hinata whilst leaving no room for either to argue against his conditions. Hinata looked slightly fearful and didn't move so Gaara decided he would have to go first. He moved to the place where Chouji had stood a few moments before and began to dance.

Although there was no music, Gaara allowed himself to move in time with a tuneless beat from inside his head. At first, his moves were slightly clumsy but then he just let all his nervousness go and allowed the dance to take control. He used the entire space available to him, performing flips, pirouettes and all manner of dips and motions. When he finally stopped he heard soft clapping and looked up from his position on the ground to see Haku smiling and clapping gently. Gaara sighed; relieved and vacated the space for Hinata to audition.

Hinata breathed deeply for a few moments before moving into a fast-paced dance blending in contemporary and South American styles to form her own unique masterpiece. When she stopped Haku again clapped and motioned the two over. "Alright," he said, a kind smile gracing his feminine features. "You are both now official members of the Dance Club of Konoha High. Welcome! We have to organise and perform in a large stage production this year so it's better now that there're four exceptionally talented dancers. We meet every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at lunch time to plan and discuss and practice and whatnot. So please convene here again on Friday. That's all, you can go," Haku stated in that manner of his that made people feel like he had complete control over their every thought.

Gaara was surprised to find that there was still 20 minutes lunch-break left and so quickly departed to his tree. However, as he approached, he realised that, again, someone was already sitting there. "Hey," Sasuke said with a smirk. Gaara ignored him completely and sat down on the other side of the wide trunk. "Aw! Don't ignore me, Gaara. You'll hurt my feelings."

"Why do you keep talking to me? Surely your fear that I'll rip out your heart and sacrifice it to some heathen god is greater than your desire to impress your idiotic school chums who obviously dared you to approach me," Gaara responded monotonously, referring to a rumour that had passed through the school previously. Sasuke just gave him a look of slight surprise. "So, what was it? Did you have to come and talk to me? Or earn my trust and then publicly humiliate me? Or perhaps to get me to admit that I'm gay?" Gaara snorted and rummaged in his bag for his tuna sandwich. Sasuke elegantly placed himself next to the redhead.

"It's not a dare," he said quietly as Gaara bit into his sandwich. "Your name is Sabaku no Gaara. You live on number 63 Summerfield Ave, you live with your brother Kankuro and your sister Temari. Every year, your grandmother and cousin Sasori visit you and you all go to the cemetery to see your parents. You always leave a single red rose for your mother and a lily for your father. Your favourite band is Nightwish and you own all of their albums. Your favourite colour is deep crimson. Your favourite food is roast chicken and your favourite drink is sparkling peach juice. Your birthday is on January the nineteenth and you never have a party because you think you aren't important enough to deserve one. I know you Gaara. Does any of that sound like a dare?" Sasuke had been looking at the ground the entire time he was speaking but now he glared at Gaara. "You ignoring me might not hurt, but please do not think of me as some petty, self-centred piece of shit. That may well hurt me. I'll see you later, Gaara."

Gaara stared at the Uchiha's retreating back. He could've sword he had seen tears welling up in the boy's eyes. What the hell was up with that guy?! Now he was making Gaara feel guilty! Fuck! He would not be affected by what Uchiha-bastard said! But regardless of how many times Gaara thought that to himself, he couldn't help but wonder if he really was the one in the wrong in all of this...A tolling chime echoed out across the school, causing Gaara to stand up and walk to Tsunade's office.

Upon reaching the blonde's office, Gaara knocked twice and the door was almost immediately answered by the curvaceous woman. "Gaara! How prompt of you! Please go in and sit down and I'll be with you in a few moments," Tsunade said with a bravado of false cheer before bustling off muttering to herself. Gaara shrugged and stepped into the office, taking his first good look around the rectangular room. He saw two certificates on the wall, stating Tsunade Shodai had a PhD in psychology and a post-graduate diploma in anthropology. He snorted. If she was such a big shot academic, why on Earth was she a school's guidance counsellor?

Gaara walked over to one of the black armchairs situated opposite the dark-green swivel chair that rested behind a dark blue desk. The desk was covered in papers and books in varying stages of disorder. The woman certainly didn't seem particularly organised.

"Sorry about that," Tsunade said, walking over to her chair after closing the door with a decisive click. "So, Gaara, is there anything you feel like talking about today?" Gaara thought for a moment, considering whether he should talk or not. He then felt a dire need to tell someone about Sasuke and Haku and everything that had happened over the last three days. So he did.

"Okay, but just because I'm telling you this doesn't mean I trust you or respect you in any way shape or form," Gaara stated sternly, waiting for Tsunade to nod before continuing. "Well there's this guy, Sasuke, and I kind of like him, yes in that way. Recently he's been talking to me like he likes me like that too and at first I thought it was just a dare or some other idiocy like that but then he said all this stuff about how he's been stalking me. Then he looked really upset and said that if I think he's an arrogant bastard it'll hurt him or something like that. And now I feel really guilty and it's pissing me off!" Gaara stared at Tsunade as he realised that he had just bared his soul to this woman, having only met her twice. Maybe she wasn't such a crappy psychologist after all.

"Hmmm," Tsunade stated thoughtfully before realising that Gaara was on the verge of saying something else. "Oh? Is there more? May as well discuss that too." Gaara nodded and spoke again.

"Well there's this other guy called Haku and he's been really nice to me recently, as if he wants to be my friend. No one ever really talks to me here but he is and now this girl, Hinata, is as well. Then today Hinata and I auditioned for the Dance Club and we got in. Haku was judging the auditions with this girl called Tenten and when we got there, Tenten was being a total cow to this guy, Chouji. I got angry with her and then she started insulting me but then Haku intervened and she insulted him too. Haku got all pissed off after that and Tenten was terrified and he threatened her then we all got on with the auditions. It was strange. And it scares me because I think I kind of want Haku to be my friend," Gaara said rather quickly and gauged Tsunade's reaction. She didn't really do anything but after a few minutes, she started speaking.

"Well, you're a fairly normal teenager as far as psychological analysis goes," She laughed a little at this before continuing more seriously. "I think that you should try to make friends with Haku and Hinata. From what I hear from the other students, they seem like good people. With Sasuke, you should test your boundaries a little. I mean, you're already a social outcast for the most part, what have you got to lose?"

"Gee, thanks," Gaara said sarcastically, but still privately agreed with the woman. The bell rang loudly from outside the door and Tsunade and Gaara both rose.

"Well, Gaara," Tsunade said, clasping her hands together. "It was good to actually talk to you today. Try to take what I've said into account and I'll see you on Friday."

"Bye," Gaara replied shortly. Gaara actually liked that woman, in spite of his curtness.

"Remember not to over-think things!" Tsunade called out to him as he left and he raised one hand in farewell. As he made his way through the throng of students making their sluggish way home. Haku walked up to him.

"Hello, Gaara," Haku said kindly as he fell into step with the redhead. "Mind if I walk with you?" Gaara shrugged and so the two continued in a comfortable silence. After about ten minutes, Haku stopped outside a ridiculously large gate connected by a path of white shells connected to a large mansion. Gaara stared.

"You live _here_?!" He asked incredulously. Haku just smiled and entered a code onto the small panel of buttons found at shoulder-height on one of the gate's side supports. The gates swung smoothly inwards.

"See you later, Gaara," Haku said as he walked up the shell path to the house. After a few minutes the gates closed again and Gaara continued walking. He couldn't believe that he knew the guy who owned one of the two great mansions of Konoha...

* * *

A/N: So that's chapter three! Hopefully there'll be more Sasuke in the next chapter and you'll find out how Gaara's parents died sooon... Okay! So please read and review!

Oh and I made Tsunade's last name First Hokage for obvious reasons.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Okay so this is a new chapter. It's a little short and kinda crappy and has no smut. But it is an update so crosses fingers

Disclaimer: I own nothing. At all. 'Tis sad.

* * *

Gaara again arrived at school early on Thursday morning and again went to sit at one of the benches. Haku came to sit next to him after a while, as he had half-expected. "I'm sorry," he said softly as soon as he had sat down. Gaara, who had been facing away from the boy turned to look at him.

"For what?" he asked, truly curious. What did the boy imagine he had done to offend Gaara? If anything he had been especially nice to him.

"For Tenten yesterday," Haku replied generally encompassing all of her faults in one bitter shrug of his shoulders. "What she said to you was unacceptable. Girls like her are weak so they prey on other's vulnerability. It must be a fairly pathetic existence to go to such lengths just to make yourself feel powerful. Ordinarily I wouldn't have bothered but evil triumphs," Here he paused and looked at Gaara as though waiting for something. Gaara understood instantly but was reluctant to comply. Nevertheless, he finished the quote.

"When good men do nothing," he muttered and Haku smiled at him. They sat in a comfortable sort of silence for a few moments before Haku spoke in a faux-casual voice.

"Are we...Are we...friends, Gaara?" He managed finally and Gaara stared at him for a moment, weighing up his choices. He could say 'no' and make life a lot easier for the both of them; he could say 'yes' and make the boy happy but perhaps make the both of them suffer unnecessarily. Or he could tell the truth. He looked searchingly into Haku's eyes and found only honesty. A completely innocent curiosity and a kind of desperation. Haku would understand the truth.

"I don't know," Gaara murmured finally. "I've never had a friend before. I don't know what it's like," He admitted finally and Haku nodded. Gaara was sure that most people would have returned this remark with pity but Haku greeted it with only understanding.

"I know what you mean. I'm not sure what to do," he admitted, frowning slightly. After a second his face cleared and he smiled at Gaara. "I guess there's only one thing to do. Do you want to come over to my house today?" He asked with the air of Santa Claus pulling an extra present out of his bag. Gaara frowned slightly. He had never, ever, ever visited a fellow student's house, ever. Could he really do something that normal? What would his family say?

"Uh...I'd like to...But...I'd have to ask at home first so..." Gaara trailed off unhelpfully, hoping Haku would forget the idea.

"Oh okay. How about we walk to your house first and ask and then we go back to my house? You can stay for dinner!" Haku reasoned happily, completely undeterred. Gaara tried to think of an excuse to not go yet found none but the feeblest. He could only hope that his grandmother wouldn't let him go. Fat chance, he thought to himself.

"Ah...sure. We can try that," Gaara reluctantly agreed just as the bell tolled across the grounds.

"Great! See you around, Gaara!" Haku called to him as he walked off to his first lesson of the day. As he entered his English classroom, Gaara couldn't help but feel that he had just made a huge mistake.

The rest of the morning passed without incident and Gaara found himself wondrously alone during morning interval under the shade of a large oak tree. It was as he was lining up for class after break that it happened. Sasuke approached him.

"Gaara, can I have a word?" he asked and Gaara considered him for a few moments before nodding and walking with the other boy to a secluded alcove a short way away from the classroom. "There's a party happening on the 24th at my house. Would...Would you like to come?" Gaara considered it for a moment. If he went then it would be the perfect opportunity for him to be made a fool of in front of most of the student body, if he didn't go then Sasuke would guilt-trip him. Then he realised that he was going to visit his parents' graves that day.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke," Gaara replied bracingly. "But there are three reasons for me not to go to your party. One; I don't know you. Two; I've never been to a party in my life and it would be awkward and three; I'm already doing something on the 24th. Why are you suddenly showing all this interest in me, anyway? I'm not even good-looking so there must be something wrong with you if you want to be friends with me! Even I know that's social suicide so why don't you-" Gaara's next words were stopped as Sasuke chose that exact moment to kiss him on the lips. He was so surprised that he didn't even try to fight it, in fact, he enjoyed it and much too soon, it was over.

"Okay," Sasuke said simply and walked away. "See you later, Gaara!" he called back over his shoulder as Gaara fumed silently. The nerve of that bastard, he thought to himself as he entered his History class and moved to his seat at the back. He was surprised when Hinata came and sat next to him.

"H-hello, G-Gaara," she stuttered and Gaara turned to look at her. Her eyes were looking forward and when she noticed him looking she blushed and stared at her notes in front of her.

"Hello, Hinata," Gaara replied in what he hoped was a reassuringly calm voice. She smiled weakly at him and he smiled back, albeit only for a moment before looking away at the teacher who was now talking about Romans doing something or another. There came a knock on the door and Uchiha Sasuke walked into the room. The chatter which had died away to a low murmur when Ms Anko had started her lesson rose to an angry-sounding buzz as Sasuke handed a note to Anko who nodded and pointed at the desk in front of Gaara. Sasuke smirked and elegantly stalked his way over to the desk and flopped terribly fashionably down with his back to the wall so he was partially facing Gaara and Hinata.

"As I was saying," Ms Anko barked, drawing all attention back to her. "You will all be placed into pairs to complete an assignment on the rise and fall of the Roman Empire and possible, _plausible_ causes. Now, who to place Uchiha with...?" Anko finished in a mutter as she rummaged through some papers on her desk, looking for something. Most of the class held its breath with the exceptions of Gaara; who couldn't care less, Hinata; who was doodling on a spare piece of paper, Shikamaru; who was staring out the window and Sasuke himself who was staring at Gaara. "Ah! Here we go!" Anko exclaimed, straightening up with a piece of paper clutched in her hand. "I think we'll see what Gaara makes of the young Uchiha."

This statement was greeted with general uproar. Ino fell off her chair, several girls in the corner gasped; one of them even screaming, Shikamaru turning away from his window and Gaara stared at the teacher as if she was in a straight-jacket. Ino was first to break the horrified silence that held the class spellbound.

"What?!" She shrieked in disbelief. "Why would you put Sasuke-kun with that freak?!" There were murmurs of agreement from many of the class but Hinata and Sasuke both glared at Ino viciously, while Shikamaru snorted in disgust. Anko looked at Ino with a frown on her face that could only mean dangerous times ahead.

"Gaara has the top score in this class and so is the ideal choice," She stated reasonably. "You barely pass my class and would be so lucky to get even half of Gaara's marks. Uchiha partners Gaara unless Sasuke has a problem with that?" She sneered the question and Sasuke half-shrugged his shoulders in a very cool manner.

"You don't?!" Hissed Ino from across the classroom. "But I heard he eats babies and sacrifices rabbits to Satan and-and-What is so funny?!" She demanded as Gaara had burst into laughter at this. Gaara just shook his head, still chuckling.

"Please continue," He requested with a large smile. "And Sasuke," He said, turning to look at the boy. "You'd better stay away from me or I'll eat the babies you and Ino are going to have." The entire class laughed at this and Ino blushed, probably more because of the look of disgust on Sasuke's face than her public humiliation. Gaara stared at the class, surprised. Why on earth were they laughing at his jokes? That was just strange...And yet, everyone was still smiling.

"Okay, now that that's settled," Ms Anko said, smiling herself. "Everyone go and sit with their chosen partner." Hinata murmured goodbye and walked over to sit next to Shikamaru. Unfortunately, Sasuke took her place, smooth as ever. "Once you're in your pairs, start bouncing ideas around. Draw a mind-map. Go crazy."

"Why, hello again, Gaara," Sasuke said as he turned to the redhead, smirking as he did so. Gaara made a split-second decision that he didn't like that smirk and had to make a stand against any possible (and likely) perverted behaviour.

"Okay, now what do they always say on those teen drama shit things?" Gaara asked rhetorically, but still, Sasuke answered.

"Fuck me hard?" He smirked in perverted humour as Gaara ignored this remark.

"Oh, that's it!" Gaara said, glaring at Sasuke. "Let me lay down some ground rules. Firstly, if you are perverted towards me in any way, shape or form, I will slowly remove all your organs, starting with your dick. Secondly, I don't really need your help on this assignment but if you have any good ideas, I'm open to them. Thirdly, if you try to pull another thing like before, I will bite your fucking tongue off. Are those clear?" It was truly amazing, Gaara thought to himself, how one could sound threatening while they were literally trembling.

"Perfectly," Sasuke said, still smirking. "I won't be perverted towards you unless you want me to, I understand you're smart but I would like to feel useful and I'm not a complete idiot and I will, hopefully be pulling things that are a lot more interesting than just kissing," He winked at Gaara who smiled back while surreptitiously pulling his compass from his pencil-case. He poked Sasuke hard in the thigh with it before quickly turning back to his work and drawing up a brainstorm.

"I told you not to be perverted," Gaara reminded him slightly smugly as Sasuke cursed. What Gaara had not bargained for was Sasuke pulling his shorts up to look at the small cut on his inner thigh and giving him a clear view right up the pale leg to Sasuke's crotch. He quickly averted his eyes after seeing, with considerable satisfaction, that he had made the Uchiha bleed. The work was extremely dull and it barely held Gaara's attention as he planned their project while Sasuke stared at him and made remarks about Gaara's handwriting being sexy. What a weirdo, Gaara thought and internally laughed at the hypocrisy of it all. Far sooner than she should, in Gaara's opinion, Ms Anko called for them to pack away their things before the bell so she could talk to them before they escaped.

"Okay," She said as the last of the mutterings disappeared. "I expect you and your partners to meet outside of school for this project as you won't get class time for it. I estimate it to take you four weeks to complete. That's it. You can leave." Gaara stared in horror at the teacher. Meet with Sasuke? Meet with Sasuke outride of school? Meet with Sasuke outside of school when the pervert could do anything to him? This was not his day. His fifth period class passed in a blur and he soon found himself wandering down to his tree, which was magnificently Sasuke-free.

Gaara sat down on the grass and thought for a moment, absently chewing on his tuna sandwich. If he was going to meet Sasuke outside of school then he was going to have to be prepared...there was no telling what the pervert might do if he was left alone with Gaara...Especially since Gaara had recently become quite the pervert himself. Maybe he could just do the project alone...yes...the Uchiha couldn't argue with that...

"Hi, Gaara." Gaara jumped violently and nearly sprayed the world with tuna and mayonnaise. He turned around to see Sasuke leaning against the tree in an infuriatingly sexy way. He had been so engrossed in his thoughts he hadn't noticed the Uchiha's approach.

"Um...Sasuke?" Gaara began hesitantly, not wanting to engage the boy in conversation in fear of giving him ideas. "About the History assignment. I'll do it by myself and then we won't have to spend any time with each other outside of school." Sasuke sat down opposite Gaara and stared into his eyes.

"Nice try, Gaara, but we are most definitely doing this project together, whether you like it or not." Sasuke continued to stare and Gaara found himself lost in those dark onyx pools of infinity. "So, do you want to come over to my house after school tomorrow or am I going to have to turn up on your doorstep and use your family against you?"

Gaara glared at the Uchiha and his beautiful eyes which were so not attractive and his gorgeously pale skin which was definitely not appealing in any way. "You are so annoying! What makes you think that you...Just because you're...And I...And we're...Argh!" Gaara spluttered while Sasuke smiled indulgently at him.

"Aw, Gaa-chan is so cute when he's mad!" Sasuke mocked with a smirk as Gaara continued to glare. "Crestfallen soul, rest for this night. Love is here, right here, under my wings." Gaara stared at the boy, completely forgetting his anger. "So tomorrow after school I'll come and get you after your classes. Don't forget. I'll see you later, Gaara." Sasuke stated as if he had not just said anything unusual. Gaara leaned back against the tree and sighed. Every time he thought he knew what to expect from the Uchiha, he'd go and do something that completely changed Gaara's view of him. It was infuriating and, although he was ashamed to admit it even to himself, very endearing.

The bell rang out and Gaara picked himself up to go to his final class of the day; Geography. After discussing the finer points of the borders of Armenia for an hour, Gaara was glad to get out of the stiflingly warm classroom at the end of the day. This mood did not last long as he saw several girls glaring at him menacingly, including Ino and Haruno Sakura. Now, Ino wasn't really dangerous but Sakura was captain of the girl's boxing team and if Ino had coerced her into something...Gaara didn't really want to find out what getting your ass kicked by the country's leading lightweight female boxer felt like. He turned and walked swiftly in the opposite direction only to find that this side of the school was devoid of students and that the girls had followed him.

"Hey, freak boy!" Ino yelled at him as he walked quickly towards the west-side exit of the school. "Hey! I'm talking to you!" He felt someone grab his hair from behind and wrench him backwards. Gaara was now facing the group of girls and they did not look particularly pleased to see him. Ino was still holding his hair and he reached up and swatted her hand away from his head. "We just want to talk to you, loser," She sneered as he backed up against the wall.

"What have you done to Sasuke?" Sakura demanded furiously. "Ino says you keep bothering him at lunch time and then he doesn't care about having to be your partner. Now why would that be?" She was leaning in much to close.

"I don't know," Gaara answered truthfully. "Maybe you should ask him. If that's all, I need to go home..." Gaara made to walk towards the door again but Sakura's fist flew out and hit the wall beside his head, blocking his path.

"Stay away from Sasuke!" Ino warned and Gaara stared at her for a moment with his perfectly crafted blank face. Suddenly he was filled with an irrational anger that these girls think that he's so weak that they could push him around.

"I'll do whatever the fuck I want to and I'd happily avoid the Uchiha-bastard if only he would leave me alone. Now piss off!" Gaara ducked under Sakura's arm but she caught the collar of his shirt and nearly strangled him as she pulled him back and turned him around to her awaiting fist. It connected squarely with the side of his face and he fell to the ground, dazed. Next he felt a barrage of feet as all the girls began to kick every inch of him they could reach. There was a loud clattering sound suddenly, just as Gaara felt a foot jab him painfully in the small of his back. The kicking stopped as Ino screamed. Gaara opened his eyes to see Haku pinning Sakura to the ground with one foot and squeezing Ino's wrists so tightly they seemed likely to break. His eyes blazed with a terrifying fury.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" He demanded of the girls in a voice of deadly calm.

"Ow!" Ino burst out suddenly. "Boys aren't supposed to hurt girls or did your mother never teach you that?" Quicker than anything Gaara could have imagined possible, Haku's free hand closed around Ino's throat and lifted her bodily off the ground.

"Not only are you attacking my friend for no reason, you then have the audacity to insult the memory of my mother?" Haku demanded in an angry hiss, through gritted teeth. He dropped Ino to the ground and removed his foot from Sakura's chest. "If I ever catch a single one of you so much as touch Gaara again, I will fucking kill you. Now piss off before I change my mind." The look Haku gave them and his obvious readiness to strangle them ensured the girls' obedience.

Gaara groaned softly as he sat up. His face was aching and felt twice the normal size and his entire body hurt from all the kicking. Haku crouched down next to him and looked concernedly at Gaara's face. "It's already bruising," He muttered to himself and rummaged through his bag before pulling out a small tube marked 'Arnica' which he squeezed a small amount of white cream from onto his fingers. "This will hurt a little," He murmured softly and began to apply the ointment to Gaara's bruised face. It was wondrously cool and he instantly felt better. "You should probably go get checked out at an emergency room. You could have fractured ribs." Gaara shook his head and felt his ribs gingerly.

"My ribs don't hurt. I curled into a ball so I don't think they got hit much," Gaara reassured the other boy who decided not to push the matter. "Haku...uh thanks for...you know...saving me," Gaara said awkwardly, blushing slightly. It sounded so cheesy and he couldn't believe something so cliché had happened to him. Haku waved off his thanks and helped Gaara to his feet.

"What're friends for?" He turned to look at Gaara who was easing his bag onto his sore shoulder. "Do you still want to come to my house? It might be better if you just went home..." He trailed off and Gaara could tell that he really wanted him to visit. Here was a perfect excuse to not go to Haku's house and yet he was casting it aside. How pathetically compassionate he was.

"No, I'll still come over if it's okay," Gaara replied as he and Haku walked slowly out of the school gates and towards Gaara's house. It was the least he could do and, despite himself, he was really starting to like Haku. Their friendship might not be normal and it might be a little confused but it suited them. They were both a little strange and Gaara would take spending an afternoon with Haku over studying with Sasuke any day.

* * *

A/N: Read and REVIEW please! Got it memorised? Gyahahahahahahaha! Stupid Rikkles. Love me or I eat your Brian! 


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Okay so originally this was a part of the last chapter but it got too long so I split them up. I was going to write more to this but I didn't want it becoming cluttered. And please excuse my clumsy vocabulary.

Disclaimer: I own Nussing! NUSSING!

* * *

  


When they reached Gaara's house, his grandmother exclaimed, swore and laughed almost simultaneously, creating a strange sort o

When the two boys reached Gaara's house, his grandmother exclaimed, swore and laughed almost simultaneously, creating a strange sort of barking sound.

Gaara ran to the mirror in the downstairs bathroom and saw a large purplish blue bruise covering the upper right side of his face and under his eye. He had a black eye. The very idea of it was insane. He heard a yell from the living room and hurried back to see what the fuss was. Grandma Chiyo, it transpired, had just noticed Haku's presence.

"An actual friend!" She exclaimed to Kankuro who seemed just as surprised as she was. Haku smiled politely at them as Gaara dashed back into the room.

"Grandma, can I go to Haku's this afternoon and stay for dinner?" Gaara asked his grandmother, carefully leading Haku away from her and towards the door before she could hug him.

"Yes, yes!" Chiyo replied, tears of joy streaming down her face. "Anything you like. A real friend!" She hugged Kankuro who seemed on the verge of tears himself. Gaara hurried Haku out of the house and down the street before his family could do anything even more embarrassing.

"They seem nice," Haku said, conversationally as they wandered towards his house. Gaara just shook his head in embarrassment. Haku didn't seem at all perturbed by Gaara's family's strange behaviour. He just walked slightly ahead, humming something softly under his breath. "Do you like Tori Amos?" He suddenly asked Gaara who started at the sudden noise. The streets were very quiet, without cars or even birds chirruping in the trees.

"Uh...I don't really know much of her music. I don't mind her really but she's not really my kind of music, I guess," Gaara replied nervously. He, for some reason, wanted Haku to like him and felt like he should agree with the boy on everything. Haku nodded and smiled slightly.

"She's one of my favourite musicians," He informed Gaara thoughtfully. "Her, Nick Cave, Nightwish and Placebo."

Gaara turned to look at Haku. As much as he wanted this to go well, he was also very fussy about people saying they like an artist and then only knowing three or so of their songs. "What's your favourite Nightwish song?" Gaara asked Haku casually. Haku thought on that for a moment before replying.

"Well," He began with a finger beneath his chin. "I like most of the songs from Once, but from that album my favourite is probably Ghost Love Score. From Wishmaster, it's a tie between Come Cover Me and Wanderlust, but I really like Dead Boy's Poem as well. From Oceanborn, it's Sleeping Sun because I love the lyrics and the guitar's really pretty. And Swanheart on From Wishes to Eternity is awesome. I probably like Ever Dream the most from Century Child but End of All Hope is amazing too...I think that basically covers my favourites...Oh and I like Over the Hills and Far Away as well." Haku finished with a little shrug. Gaara was surprised to say the least that Haku actually knew the names of the albums let alone have favourite songs from them. He wasn't one of those pathetic posers that think that people will think they're cool if they say they like something. He felt slightly guilty and ashamed that he had doubted the strange boy.

"I like Romanticide the most from Once. Otherwise we like pretty much all the same songs," Gaara told Haku, unable to keep the surprise out of his voice. Haku smiled faintly as they approached the ostentatious gates leading up to his magnificent manor. Gaara was again overwhelmed by the sheer size of the place. It was several stories high and he couldn't even hazard a guess at how many rooms it might contain. The walls were made of an old stone that Gaara couldn't name that had been painted a pure white. The roof was charcoal grey in colour and made with shingles. There were several balconies along the top level with plants artfully growing on and around the railings pertaining to their edges. The windows seemed primarily arching in quality, with occasional squares framing the larger panes. Some even had stained glass.

"Come on," Haku commanded politely and Gaara realised that he had been staring and the gates were about to close. He quickly caught up to the other boy as the gates clanged shut with a slightly disturbing finality. Gaara experienced a moment of claustrophobia and wanted to turn around and bang his fists on the gates until they opened. Fighting down this urge of madness, he and Haku marched smartly up the white-shell path and Gaara found himself once again staring at the glorious culmination of architectural beauty Haku called home. "Do you like it?" Haku asked amusedly and Gaara blushed as he had been gaping open-mouthed at the building before him.

"It's incredible," Gaara responded in awe. His eyes ravished the wondrous exterior of the mansion before him. The great white walls, the imperious oak front doors, the now-visible tower looming above the world in a constant vigil, were all too much. The grandeur was too much for him to bear. He wanted to bow down in reverence and never leave the presence of this miracle of human creation. He wanted to worship it as a god and defend it against vandals with his life. When Temari had told him he'd one day find someone to spend the rest of his life with, neither of them had imagined that someone to be a house. You're going to marry a house? Gaara mocked himself before shaking his head and focusing on the here and now, repressing any other ridiculous notions of house-o-philia.

"It was built in the nineteenth century for a rich merchant and then built upon and renovated to its current state. It used to be just the tower and a small building next to it. The building was demolished in the early 1900s but the tower remained and in the intervening time it has slowly been rebuilt through nine different owners." Haku informed Gaara as he rummaged around at the bottom of his bag for his key. "Or that's what the realtor who sold it to us said. I just thought it was pretty so we bought it. Damn! Where is my key?" Just as Haku said this, the front door opened, revealing a young man who looked extremely flustered and was dressed in plain black clothes.

"I beg your pardon, Haku-san!" The boy practically shouted, hanging his head in shame. It was as he did this that Gaara realised the boy had a bowl-cut and extraordinarily thick eyebrows. "I was attending to-" The boy was cut off as a fist hit him in the back of the head.

"Lee! You bring shame on us all!" Behind Lee stood a man with even thicker eyebrows and a similar bowl-cut. He too was dressed in simple black garb identical to Lee's.

"I am sorry, Gai-sensei! I will try harder! If I keep Haku-san waiting again I will mow the lawns everyday for a month!" The Lee boy wailed, tears streaming down his face. Haku sighed and stepped over the threshold of the house, completely ignoring the two males who were now clutching each other's hands and vowing to perform better. Gaara stared in astonishment.

"Gaara, would you like anything to eat or drink?" Haku asked him as he pushed Gaara inside and closed the door, still ignoring the enigmatic men. When Gaara didn't respond, Haku followed his stare to Lee and Gai. "Oh don't worry about them. They'll be like that for a while." Gai and Lee looked around for the first time and noticed Gaara.

"Intruder!" Gai shouted dramatically and dived at Gaara. He was stopped by Haku kicking him in his side in an almost resigned sort of way. Lee ran over to his fallen sensei and Gaara continued to stare. This was all too strange. Maybe he'd wake up and find this had all been some horrible dream, like in Alice in Wonderland. Maybe if he told them they were all just a pack of cards they'd disappear and he'd wake up on the riverbank with Dina. Gaara was snapped from his reverie of ridiculous thoughts by Gai wringing his hand in apology.

"No, really, it's fine," Gaara reassured the sobbing man awkwardly. "I was already attacked today so there's no harm done really." Gai seemed even more aggrieved at this and demanded that Gaara punish him by ordering him to wash every surface in the house 500 times over. Gaara just shook his head despairingly. This man was obviously a masochist of the worst kind. Haku came to Gaara's rescue by grabbing him by the hand that wasn't being shaken to death by Gai and pulling him through a door to their left and slamming it behind them, demanding privacy.

They found themselves in the largest, most high-tech kitchen Gaara had ever seen. It had every appliance one could possibly need and several that Gaara couldn't even fathom. There were sets of drawers coming from almost every surface and large cabinets against the walls. The counter-tops were painted black and varnished with thick coats of plasticity. The walls and drawers were a gentle cream colour with the appliances being either black or white. Against one wall there was an enormous white refrigerator that Gaara could have sat in quite comfortably. Opposite the fridge was a large white door that blended in perfectly with the surrounding wall and was made clear only by the large handles protruding from its centre.

Haku approached the door and turned the handles, disappearing from view. Gaara tentatively followed and found himself standing in a great pantry. It was the size of his living room and lined with shelves stocked full of every foodstuff imaginable. There was a large wheeled ladder the kind of which you would usually find in a library leaning against each wall of shelves. Haku stood amidst all this and spread his arms. "Do you want anything to eat?" His grin was infectious and Gaara found himself laughing along with the other boy at the absurdly large house. They sat in the larder for half-an-hour, munching on corn-chips and talking about nothing in particular. It felt good, to just exist with someone else, after so long alone. Gaara felt that perhaps he was ready for a friend.

When they had eaten all they could stand of corn-chips, they crept out into the kitchen and opened the door they had come through a crack and peered around it. Lee was still standing in the hallway and he shouted when he saw them. They quickly closed and locked the door as they heard a body slam into it. "Gai-sensei! They're going to come out!" Lee's voice shouted and they backed away from the door.

"We need a diversion," Haku said and walked over to one of the many drawers and pulled out what appeared to be a small explosive.

"What the hell is that?" Gaara demanded a little shrilly. Haku smiled reassuringly with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Smoke bomb. It's our only hope. Those two are completely mental," Haku replied and walked over to the door, beckoning Gaara to him. He grasped Gaara's hand. "Don't let go. I'll lead you to the stairs. Just keep running and we'll make it. Okay. On the count of three...one...two...three!" Haku wrenched the door open and threw the smoke bomb into the middle of the large hall and the next thing Gaara knew he was running as smoke filled his nose and eyes. Choking and spluttering, Gaara was led to a staircase and told to climb. He did so, slipping and tripping his way up the staircase. Then they were clear of the smoke and Gaara could see again. He could see a door; they were going to make it!

Gaara felt arms wrap around his middle and he fell comically to the ground with Gai clinging onto his waist, a triumphant smile on his face. Haku turned and shoved the man back by his face with unbelievable strength before pulling Gaara to his feet and then through the door, slamming it behind him. They collapsed onto the floor in hysterical laughter; it was all just too ridiculous. "Are things usually this insane at your house?" Gaara asked after he had stopped laughing.

"Worse. If Zabuza's here they go mental trying to impress him. It's quite funny to watch actually," Haku replied, still giggling slightly. This resulted in more laughter and it was a good ten minutes before they could get up and go to Haku's room. It was as they did so that Gaara looked around and saw that he was in a gigantic hallway on the second story of the house. The hallway lined four walls and separating each corridor was what Gaara fist thought was a pit but then turned out to be an enormous ballroom on the ground floor. There were railings of course; stopping one from falling out of the corridor onto the hard marble of the ballroom floor and Gaara leaned against this as he gazed down at the magnificent hall beneath him. Light cascaded gently down upon it from the domed ceiling high above, which appeared to be made of glass. Once again Gaara was overcome by the sheer beauty of the building.

"I love your house," Gaara told Haku who was smiling at his reaction. Haku just gestured for Gaara to come with him and they continued down the corridor until they reached a door like all the others they had passed which Haku opened. It revealed a large round room with a domed ceiling even greater than the previous one and in the centre of the room, where the light fell most strongly, there was a glorious fountain. It was made of a pale stone and its jet flew several metres into the air, returning to the pool beneath it with a gentle splashing sound. Around the outside of the room were cushions and tables all oriented towards the fountain.

"Do you like it?" Haku asked as he looked around with an expression of pure serenity. "It's where I come to think. It's my favourite room in the house. I'd sleep here if Zabuza didn't make me go to bed." Gaara realised that this wasn't a room that Haku would show to just anyone, it was truly special to him. What did that mean? Did Haku trust him to such a degree? Or was he reading too much into this?

"It's beautiful," Gaara found himself saying softly as Haku walked across the room to a door he hadn't noticed before.

"Come on, I'll show you my room," Haku called back over his shoulder as he was swallowed by the doorway. Somewhat reluctantly, Gaara left the peaceful room around him and followed Haku. Haku's room was large and rectangular. It wasn't extravagantly furnished as Gaara had half-expected; it contained one large bed against a wall with a window directly above it. There were also some drawers against another and a writing desk next to those. The only incredible feature was that one of the walls was almost entirely covered in pictures. They featured people. Hundreds and hundreds of people arranged to form a great flower.

The great collage seemed both very out of place, and strangely fitting. There were several posters tacked to the ceiling, some Gaara recognised; Nightwish primarily, but all were evidently photos of musicians and bands. But these were normal, as was the rest of the room. It was as if the collage was a different dimension, and, in its own way, it probably was, to Haku at least. Gaara turned to stare at the boy before him, and as he did so he saw a beautiful carved bookshelf, home to exquisite volumes of the classics and modern books as well, but these Gaara only recognised by title as the original cover had been replaced by new bindings.

"So...what do you think of my humble abode?" Haku asked Gaara teasingly. Gaara breathed; he had forgotten to do so while he looked around, and tried to explain all his feelings. Serious words didn't seem to do the situation justice, and they were not his forte at the best of times.

"I'm still half-expecting the bookcase to slide back into the wall to reveal a secret laboratory," Gaara replied in the same tone and Haku laughed.

"Well I ordered it from the catalogue but they sold the last cliché to some rich Frenchman," Haku retorted mildly, feigning disappointment. "Secret laboratories may be lacking but I do have automated technology." Haku picked up a remote off of the top of his drawers and pressed a button. There was a grinding noise and a panel in the wall opposite the bed rolled back to reveal a home entertainment system the size of a small cinema screen. Gaara's mouth fell open in surprise. In what universe did Haku live? Surely it wasn't his.

"How on earth can you afford all this?" Gaara demanded weakly, the appearance of the enormous entertainment system has been too much for him.

"I was left a large corporation by my mother, which Zabuza-san now runs for me and then shortly after my mother passed away my father was killed so I was left another ridiculous sum of money, several estates, a private helicopter and another organisation. It's not much really, I'm just worth several billion dollars more than most people," Haku replied in a strangely bitterly sarcastic voice. It was obviously something that he had demons with. Although Gaara didn't want to press Haku too far on their first real attempt to spend time together, there was still one question he wanted to ask.

"What is Zabuza-san to you?" Gaara asked tentatively before adding, "If you don't mind me asking." Haku stared at Gaara for a long moment as if wondering whether to reply or not.

"He's my biological father, my teacher and my bodyguard. He is my most precious person; I will do anything to protect him," Haku replied with a faraway look on his face. Gaara didn't know what to say to this so the two sat in silence for a few minutes, just listening to the sounds of the world uninterrupted by thoughts of worry or sadness. Enjoying the peace and serenity that only understanding can bring, because Gaara did understand. He understood Haku's sadness and fear; his need to protect something to prove his existence worthy of something; his need to be needed.

Eventually, as all things do, the silence ended, plunging them back into the world, into their own present and away from the safety of silence.

A/N: So that's the chapter. Please review, although I know not many people will. It's okay though because I write this one for myself and not for you guys!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Hello! I'm sorry it took me so long to update but I was real busy with crap things, but I'm alive again now! I'm also sorry that it's weird and confusing and short, but c'est la vie!

* * *

The daylight faded fast as Gaara whiled away the hours with Haku, watching television and listening to music. It was as the sky turned a deep crimson colour that the two heard sounds coming from somewhere in the vast house. Upon hearing this, Haku stood from his position on the floor.

"Zabuza's home," he stated softly then led the way back to the main foyer where Lee and Gai were gesticulating and making vows of self-improvement. But the thing that captured Gaara's attention was the man who had just walked through the front door. He was tall and muscular with cropped black hair and a sun-browned face. His clothes were that of an elegant businessman with a dark suit and a black briefcase. But none of this was particularly interesting to Gaara. What intrigued him about the man, what captivated him, were the man's tortured eyes. Eyes that seemed to hold a sea of torment, writhing and washing ashore brutally fresh memories of an abhorrent past. Eyes that seemed to scream in agony even as the face around them smiled. Eyes of the hollow mask that Gaara wore everyday. Eyes that Haku hid when he was near another person. Eyes that Sasuke had shown Gaara for one terrifying instant the day before. Eyes of the tarnished lives destroyed along with things once precious, but now only present in memory scars.

"That's Zabuza?" Gaara muttered softly to himself as Haku led the way down the stairs to greet the tortured soul below. Zabuza looked over as they descended. Those terrifyingly wonderful eyes locked onto Gaara's own and he almost stopped walking.

"Haku," Zabuza said generally as the two reached the ground floor. "And who is this?"

"Zabuza, this is my friend, Gaara. Gaara, this is my Zabuza." Haku introduced the two and Gaara blushed slightly as the intense man surveyed him carefully.

"How do you do?" Zabuza asked politely, stretching out a large tan hand which seemed to swallow Gaara's slender pale one.

"Fine, thank you. And yourself?" Gaara responded automatically with his eyes on the ground. After a few moments he realised his hand was still held by the large man and so he looked up questioningly into his eyes. Zabuza stared intently into Gaara's eyes for a few moments before he remembered himself.

"You are Sabaku no Gaara, yes?" Zabuza asked him sombrely. Gaara stared in slight confusion for a moment before nodding. "Ah, that explains it. Welcome to our home, Gaara. I trust you've had a pleasant afternoon?" Again Gaara nodded mutely. "Good. Now, I hope you'll be staying for dinner, we're going to be having Crayfish Mornay." Gaara stared blankly at this. What the hell was that? Crayfish what? "I'm only joking. We're having spaghetti." Haku laughed softly but Gaara didn't get the joke. Maybe it was a rich people's thing.

"Are you going to train before or after dinner?" Haku asked Zabuza then.

"Both. I'll train now, have dinner, train some more and then do my paperwork I didn't finish." Zabuza replied, walking upstairs as he spoke. Suddenly he stopped and looked at Gaara. "Do you do any martial arts, Gaara?" Gaara was slightly surprised by the question and was blushing from being spoken to so suddenly by the man.

"No, my family's kind of against violence in all forms. Which is ironic considering my mother used to be a martial arts teacher as well as a dance teacher," Gaara replied quietly. Zabuza looked strangely disappointed at this, but Gaara couldn't conceive why he would be.

"Well, would you like to come watch us train?" Zabuza asked, cocking a non-existent eyebrow. "Unless Haku is planning on skipping today to spend time with his friend?" Haku turned to look at Gaara.

"Do you mind?" Gaara wasn't about to say that he didn't want to be bored for god knows how long so he shook his head and shrugged. "Okay, then. Do you want to wait here while I go upstairs to change or...?" Haku trailed off and Gaara realised there wasn't really another option.

"No, I'll wait here," he said with a small smile which Haku returned before running up the stairs. After five or so minutes, Zabuza returned from upstairs wearing only a pair of shorts. Gaara tried not to stare at the defined torso or the hipbones that were just visible above the waistband of the white shorts. He failed rather miserably of course and when Zabuza bent over to pick something up off the floor, Gaara almost got hard at the sight of Zabuza's toned ass clearly defined through the material of his shorts. He told his body not to be so perverted and found this easier as Haku approached at that moment garbed in a plain black t-shirt and dark blue shorts.

"Let's go to the gym then," Zabuza said and led the way through a door Gaara hadn't noticed before, underneath the stairwell. He found himself in the ballroom he had seen on the way to Haku's room. They quickly passed through this room and into one that was too dark to see clearly. After Haku closed the door, however, lights automatically flickered into life inside the ceiling. Gaara stared around, amazed. Lining the interior wall that was backed by the rest of the house were panels of mirrors like those in a dance studio. The opposite wall was made of glass and through it was a perfect view of the last rays of the sun. Inside the room were all manner of training equipment; weights, treadmills, punching bags, padded posts, dummies, sandbags and many other things Gaara couldn't identify.

"There's a seat over there," Haku pointed to a chiropractic chair resting in a corner of the large room. Gaara walked over to it and seated himself, wondering what kind of training Haku and Zabuza would do. Haku didn't really seem the type to like fighting or be very good at it. Gaara watched with interest as Zabuza cleared away a space in the middle of the room and took up a half-crouching stance.

"Come," he instructed Haku who inclined his head and darted forward. Gaara blinked and Haku had his feet locking Zabuza's neck while he used his hands to support himself. Gaara blinked again and saw Haku twisting up from the ground while defending himself from Zabuza's blows. This happened several more times and Gaara was amazed at the speed which the two males moved and the ease which made all of Haku's movements seem like an intricate dance. Left kick, right kick, spin, duck, parry, right hook, duck, parry, parry, leap, spin, twirl, right kick, left hook, throw, parry. It all flowed so elegantly and magnificently that Gaara felt more like he was watching ballet than sparring. The endless movement between the two continued for such a long time that Gaara's eyes were getting sore from trying not to blink. Neither slowed or faltered, it was as if they weren't even exerting themselves. That amount of energy seemed, to Gaara, terrifying in its seemingly limitless supply. After an eternity of defending and attacking, Zabuza held up one hand, signalling that it was time to stop.

"That's enough for one day. I don't think I'll do any training after dinner," Zabuza said as he took a sip from a water bottle. Haku smiled at the older man.

"You're getting old," he accused teasingly. Zabuza's eye twitched and he stared at Haku for a few seconds, his face blank. Then suddenly he squirted the contents of the bottle in his hands at Haku with a smirk.

"I'm too young to be old," He stated happily while Haku blinked water out of his eyes. Haku shook his head from side to side and weighed up the situation in his head. It didn't take him long to reach a suitable conclusion.

"This means war!" he yelled as he darted across the room and pulled a hose from out of the wall. "Come on, Gaara! We can take him!" Gaara stared in horror at Haku. What? How on earth could they take Zabuza? Why would he even want to?

"When did I become involved in this?" Gaara demanded of Haku who was aiming the hose at Zabuza's retreating form. Haku just laughed maniacally and knocked over a table to make a shield against the wet towels that Zabuza was now hurling at them.

"Eat soggy material!" Zabuza yelled as he threw the towels continuously, most of them hitting the back of the table which Gaara was now hiding behind.

"Bring it on, old man!" Haku screamed as he blasted Zabuza with the hose. Gaara just shook his head and asked himself why he had ever agreed to come over to Haku's house. These guys were worse than his grandma. Gaara stood up, deciding he would wait outside for this war to be over. He had chosen the wrong moment, however, and a wet towel hit the back of his head. Haku and Zabuza both stopped moving at this and stared at Gaara who was standing with his fringe covering his eyes. He slowly reached up with his right hand and pulled the towel which now rested on his shoulder off of him and stared at it. "Gaara? Are you okay?" Haku asked, tentatively approaching the redhead. Gaara looked up and smiled. Haku sighed softly. His relief was short-lived.

Faster than anyone who knew him would have believed possible, Gaara threw the wet towel with unerring accuracy so that it hit Zabuza directly between the legs. "Now, I'm involved," Gaara stated menacingly, taking the hose out of Haku's hands and running towards Zabuza's prone figure (He had fallen to the floor after being hit). He launched a torrent of water onto Zabuza, giggling slightly as he did so. That was until he noticed that Zabuza was wearing white shorts. Then he remembered that when white clothes become wet, they cling to the body especially clearly. After this he noticed that Zabuza wasn't wearing any underwear. Fuck. Total erection. Fuck. Over his friend's father. Fuck. Zabuza seemed to have recovered. Fuck. Zabuza was staring at him with those wondrous eyes. Fuck. Zabuza was moving at a ridiculous speed and knocking him to the floor as if he were nothing more than a rag doll. Fuck. Zabuza was now on top of Gaara, straddling him and could definitely feel his erection. Fuck, fuck, fuckidy, fuck!

"Pinned ya," Zabuza laughed as if nothing was wrong, even though Gaara knew he knew. Gaara blushed and tried not to think about the fact that Zabuza's strong thighs were pinning him to the ground. That his ass and _thing_ were just inches away from him. Zabuza quickly got off Gaara, laughing and apologising as he did so. Gaara slowly sat up while Haku asked him if he was hurt. Gaara just shook his head and was pleased to note that his erection was going down. He smiled at Haku and stood up, staring around at the mess they had made and avoiding making eye-contact with Zabuza. Gaara didn't say much for the remainder of his evening at Haku's, though the boy didn't seem to notice anything amiss. It wasn't until he had shaken Zabuza's hand goodbye and left through the front gates of the mansion with Haku, who had insisted on escorting him home that Gaara truly relaxed again.

"I had fun today, Gaara," Haku stated serenely as they wandered beneath the street lights. "You should come over again sometime. And next time I promise we'll organise the water-fight and grand-escapes beforehand." Gaara laughed with Haku but was still fairly concerned that the boy was serious.

"I had fun too," Gaara found himself saying, and it was true. He had had a lot of fun with Haku, who was a very easy person to get along with. Haku seemed to be filled with an ancient wisdom that allowed him to forgive and understand every pain or mistake. Gaara had never encountered anything like it before and it was very comforting. "I wish I could come over to your house tomorrow instead of studying with Uchiha. He scares me a little for some reason." Gaara wondered why those words which obviously weren't his thoughts were coming out of his mouth.

"I think it's because he's what society demands. Perfection by definition, yet not as shallow as that. I think he might have something more to him than just a stereotypical jock. Maybe you should think less about what he could do and more about what he does," Haku advised calmly as he examined the stars overhead which were only visible during the boys' brief periods spent in shadow. Gaara stared, agape, at the boy before him. With a few easy words, Haku had managed to erase all of Gaara's anxiety and tension about Sasuke. Gaara now felt as if going to Uchiha's wasn't such a big deal, that he could, and would survive. Haku turned, smiling to look at his companion. His face quickly changed to a concerned frown. "Gaara? What's the matter?"

Gaara stared blankly at Haku before reaching up to touch the tears that were silently falling from his eyes. Gaara's eyes widened when he felt the moisture on his cheeks. "I'm...crying?" Gaara asked, amazed. He hadn't cried since he was seven years old, when he had wept as his parents pulled out of the driveway, on their way to the plane that would take them to New York and, ultimately, their deaths. "That's...uw," Gaara's voice was cut out by a sob. Haku was staring at him in concern, looking like a mother staring over the graze her child had received from a fall. That look connected the thoughts in Gaara's head.

Haku reminded Gaara forcibly of a parent. Gaara was crying because Haku had just comforted him as his own mother would have done. His tears were falling because he was now remembering the last moments he spent with his real parents. The tears continued to trickle down Gaara's face as he tried to articulate an explanation to the other boy, to his friend. Friend. The word hurt Gaara in the most amazing way. He had a friend. Haku's arms enclosed around Gaara's lithe form, comforting him and effortlessly erasing his worry. "Thank you so much, Haku," Gaara eventually gurgled out. Haku pulled back to look at his face.

"What? What for?" He asked in total bemusement. Gaara couldn't help but laugh slightly at the classic expression of catlike confusion on Haku's face.

"For being my friend," Gaara whispered in the other's ear before running to his front door that was only a few metres away. "See you tomorrow, Haku!" Gaara called back to the boy who waved in a shocked sort of way, before turning and disappearing into the gloom.

* * *

A/N: So, what'd you think? I would like for you to review and tell me, please! I'll try to update soon of my own accord, so you don't need to review just to tell me to.


	7. Chapter 7

* * *

  


A/N: I hate these line things, I've decided. I've updated, and only 77 days after my last update! Go me! I'm really sorry that I haven't updated recently, but I just never seem to have the time to write anymore. It's very depressing. But when the school year's over for me (December 15th or something like that) then I'll be able to write a lot during the two months of summer break we get. Hopefully. Oh well.

This chapter has a very tangy and bitter lime, or maybe a sweet lemon. Consider yourself forewarned that it's very graphic and lovely. Non-penetrative, unfortunately. Blast.

* * *

  


Gaara lay in bed after waking the next day. It was still early as the light behind his curtains was dim and his room was pervaded by an early-morning silence. Today was the day he would have to spend hours alone with Sasuke. The thought of what the Uchiha would do had been bothering him the day before, but after Haku's consolation Gaara felt much safer. It was ridiculous to assume that Sasuke would do something untoward just because he could. Like assuming that you'll eventually spontaneously combust because you can. Irrational. Stupid.

Yet no matter how many times Gaara told himself this, he was still nervous. Sasuke was the most popular boy in school and Gaara was the despised loser who people wouldn't even condescend to spit on. How could they possibly exist in the same universe? It was just too unbelievable that they could interact...like equals. Because that was what Sasuke was trying to make Gaara believe. That, despite the difference in their social standings they were still on the same level. Gaara knew that this was not how the world worked, regardless of how much television and romance proclaimed otherwise. In this world, Sasuke was loved and Gaara was hated.

Gaara sighed and left the warmth of his bed to go through the motions of preparing for school. Dwelling on such things would only make him feel worse.

"G-g-good morning, G-G-Gaara-kun," Hinata said as Gaara sat down in the row behind her in History. Next to Hinata was Shikamaru who was absently doodling on his paper. Gaara was hopeful that Sasuke was absent as he hadn't seen him today and it was third period.

"Morning, Hinata," Gaara replied with surprisingly good humour due to the Uchiha's absence. His happy mood was punctured fatally however as Sasuke elegantly flopped into the chair next to him.

"Hello, Gaara," Sasuke purred Gaara's name, rolling the r seductively. Gaara just ignored him. "Aren't you even going to say hello to your super important research project partner? That makes me sad, Gaara. It makes me wanna poke you until you say hi." Sasuke teased playfully as his hand stretched out a finger to prod Gaara's shoulder. Gaara just ignored him.

Ten minutes later, however, Gaara was at his wits' end. The bastard seated next to him had progressed from poking Gaara's shoulder to his side and eventually had reached his thigh, his fingers tiptoeing their way closer to his crotch. The teacher was speaking, but Gaara was having trouble breathing as the dastardly attractive boy gently poked his sensitive upper leg. He could see Anko-sensei's mouth moving and hear a muffled sound but the only thing he was truly aware of was those two fingers that were dancing ever closer to his growing erection.

Sasuke's fingers were now achingly close to Gaara's enclosed member and as they brushed the material, Gaara finally uttered the sound that would end this torment.

"Hello, Sasuke," Gaara managed to exhale softly and the fingers left him instantly, ending one torment but making another more obvious to Gaara. He had an erection in class. That sucked! Gaara glared at the boy sitting next to him who was smiling smugly. He noticed that the other boy's pants were a little tight and an idea struck him. An evil idea. An evil, perverted and naughty idea.

Taking a deep breath, Gaara casually dropped his hand so that it landed on his leg. Sasuke noticed and smirked. Now that Gaara was sure he had the Uchiha's attention, he began to trace his hand over his own thigh, keeping eye contact with the other boy the whole time. His hand moved over his crotch and began to slowly massage. Gaara bit his lip and conveyed with his eyes the pleasure that he was feeling. Sasuke's eyes widened and a slight blush came over his cheeks. Gaara saw the other boy's pants twitch. He smirked.

Gaara then tuned back in to what Anko-sensei was saying, maintaining eye-contact and crotch rubbing. The teacher was asking a question. "Come on now! One of you has got to know where Rome is located in Italy. Anyone? Anyone at all?" Gaara seized his chance. He took his other hand off the desk and moved it tantalisingly slowly to Sasuke's crotch, laying his palm flat on it and pressing down.

Sasuke gasped loudly and said: "Yes!" Anko grinned with relief and motioned for Sasuke to come forward.

"Thank you, Uchiha. Now come up to the front of the class and show us where Rome is on the map," Sasuke gulped and looked at Gaara who was staring pointedly ahead and struggling to keep a straight face. Sasuke slowly stood up, trying to arrange his legs as he walked to hide the lump in his shorts. He wasn't very successful and whispers began to float around the class as Sasuke, with a red face, marked Rome's placement then turned around and quickly returned to his seat. Anko-sensei commended his accuracy and then told them to work in their pairs on their projects because she had no further lesson planned. Gaara allowed the laughter to bubble out of him.

"Did you do that on purpose?!" hissed Sasuke furiously. Gaara just laughed all the harder. "Oh, you are so going down tonight! I'm gonna make you wish you never hear the word grind again!" Gaara stopped laughing at this and stared at Sasuke.

"You know I was just kidding right? It was just to get back at you for poking me. It was supposed to be funny." Gaara explained as if Sasuke had somehow missed something.

"Hilarious," Sasuke replied darkly, before smirking and leaning over as if to pick his pen up off the floor. In the process, he rubbed his cheek against Gaara's half-hard cock. He sat up as the bell rang for the end of class. "See you later, Gaara!" Sasuke walked out of the class smirking as Gaara was once again left with an erection.

The rest of the day passed quickly and before he knew it, Gaara was walking to the Dance room with Hinata to meet Haku and Tenten. "Okay, guys, today we're just going to do some planning for what we could do as a performance this year," Haku informed them as he, Gaara and Hinata gathered together on the floor while Tenten seated herself upon the only chair. "Last year the club did some ridiculous story that made no sense whatsoever. This year, I think we should try writing a plot ourselves, one that can actually be told through dance. Luckily for us, the school has managed to hire a music teacher who'll be here next week. Apparently she's very experienced for someone her age and will also be filling the role of Performing Arts Co-ordinator. Basically, we can't do very much today because she hasn't arrived yet." Tenten rolled her eyes.

"Then what's the point of us being here?" she asked derisively. Gaara privately agreed with the girl but didn't say so. Because Tenten was a bitch whose opinion counted for zilch in Gaara's mind.

"Well, there isn't much of a point, I suppose. Maybe we should just wait until next week...?" Haku trailed off questioningly. Gaara and Hinata both shrugged while Tenten stood up and left for an answer. Gaara, too, stood up, intending to go down to his tree for his usual solitude. "Hey, Gaara, do you mind if I come and sit with you?" Haku asked. Gaara considered it for a moment then turned back.

"Of course not," he replied with a smile that came surprisingly naturally. He then noticed Hinata looking a little bit awkward and, was it just his imagination, or did she look a little lonely? He made a split-second decision. "Hinata, would you like to come too?" The shy girl blushed, and then nodded with a smile. The three of them made their way down to Gaara's willow tree where they sat down in the shade. They began to have a relaxed conversation about schoolwork, which consisted mostly of Haku speaking while Gaara and Hinata listened. This comfortable atmosphere lasted ten minutes before their happy little group was visited by a raven-haired soccer player.

"Hello, Gaara," Sasuke said as he sat down next to the redhead. Gaara groaned and Haku raised his eyebrows questioningly. "And who are your friends?" Sasuke's silky voice asked. Gaara merely glared at the Uchiha. Haku took the liberty of replying.

"I'm Haku, and that's Hinata. I'm surprised you don't know us; we have been in your homeroom class for the past four years." There was a slightly sardonic lilt in Haku's voice as he said this, as though he was mocking the other boy for being so unobservant. Sasuke inclined his head and thought about it.

"I guess I just don't notice the people who sit at the back." Sasuke smiled in a bitchy way at this and Gaara rolled his eyes. What Sasuke had actually meant by that was: "I don't notice insignificant losers like you."

"What brings you here, Sasuke?" Gaara asked warily. Sasuke waved a nonchalant hand.

"I just wanted to come and see my boyfriend. Is there anything wrong with that?" the raven smirked.

"Not really. Except that your boyfriend doesn't seem to be here. In fact, I don't think I've seen Ino all day."

"That was mean, Gaa-chan! Why are you always like this when other people are around?" Sasuke demanded in a cutesy-kid little voice. Gaara spluttered angrily.

"Stop saying things like that! You make them seem believable!" Sasuke just laughed at Gaara's angry face.

"You're so cute when you're mad, Gaa-chan." Gaara was busy trying to think of a witty retort when they heard other people approaching.

"Hey, Sasuke! What are you doing out here with these weirdoes?" a voice called from several metres away. Gaara looked over to see Sasuke's gang of supposed friends grouped threateningly together. There was the over-sized Jiroubou, who was the school's star rugby player, the effeminate twins, Sakon and Ukon, the masculine Tayuya, the basketball-playing Kidoumaru and the most frightening of all, the delinquent Kimimaro. This strange collection of people made up the most popular people in the school. They were also Sasuke's gang that he seemed to have exclusive control over.

"Just talking, Tayuya. No reason for me not to be here. It's quite nice on this side of the school." Sasuke replied unconcernedly, motioning around himself at the grass and foliage.

"Oh, well why don't you freaks over there get your asses away from Sasuke, 'cause he wants to sit here." Tayuya called to Gaara and the others. Haku's eyes glittered dangerously.

"I beg your pardon, but I don't speak trollop. Learn some manners and come back with a brain at your earliest convenience. Then perhaps I'll take the arduous path that is explaining to you exactly why I believe you are pathetic. Run along now." Haku smiled quite politely and stated this all with a calm and collected tone. Sasuke snorted and smirked slightly while Tayuya frowned in confusion.

"You're one of those smart geeks, aren't ya?" She replied with a sneer as if intelligence was the most insulting thing she could think of. Which it probably was.

"What? I'm smart? Oh, why, oh, why is my brain not that of a lemon!?" Haku exclaimed in mock horror. Sasuke and Gaara both laughed at this and even Hinata giggled slightly.

"What the hell are you laughing at, freak?" Sakon spat at Hinata who blushed slightly and looked down. Gaara felt this was going a bit too far.

"Well, I'd say it's probably the ridiculous amount of badly-applied eye shadow and lipstick you're wearing. But it might be the fact that your head is lodged so far up your own ass that it's coming out your throat. But those are just guesses." Gaara said with enough venom for the boy to know that he was serious. Sakon narrowed his eyes angrily.

"Do you know who you're dealing with?" He asked menacingly.

"A white-trash transsexual hooker named Trixie?" Gaara replied innocently. Sakon just growled and lunged at Gaara but he was held back by three people; Sasuke who was crouching in front of Gaara, Haku who was standing up in a fighting stance and by Kimimaro who had grabbed Sakon's arm and pulled him back. A silence fell over the group. This was broken by the bell ringing and all of them being snapped out of their stupor. Both groups separated and went to their respective classes; Gaara heading to Tsunade's office. As he waited outside, he wondered if he should mention the almost-fight that had just occurred. He decided against it.

"Gaara! Come in, I've been expecting you." Tsunade said, opening her office door. Gaara rolled his eyes. Of course she'd been expecting him; he had an appointment. No matter how nice the woman seemed, she still had that irritating habit of school counsellors to state the obvious. Gaara seated himself in the chair opposite the blonde, taking a cursory look around the now-familiar office. "So, what would you like to discuss? Anything interesting happen recently in the world of Gaara?" Gaara thought for a moment before replying.

"I made a friend. And even went over to his house after school," Gaara stated in a low voice, as if he were embarrassed to have a friend. He found himself once again feeling inclined to tell the woman about his day. "It was quite a lot of fun and Haku's a really nice person, he reminds me of a parent somehow. And his father is kind of intimidating, but not in a bad way. He kind of makes me feel more secure, if that makes sense. And today Sasuke was being annoying, but I wasn't getting angry. I just acted angry because I thought that I should; like it was a game or something. I don't quite understand it." Gaara stopped and Tsunade looked at him thoughtfully.

"I believe that what you were doing with Sasuke..." Tsunade said eventually. "...is commonly called flirting." Gaara stared at her blankly. She could not be serious. That was ridiculous. Why would he flirt with Sasuke unless... It clicked what she was trying to say.

"I don't like Sasuke." Gaara stated firmly. Tsunade smiled indulgently, which really pissed Gaara off. Why was she so sure of herself?! "He's an arrogant bastard who thinks the world owes him something even though he's probably had everything in life delivered on a silver platter!" Gaara exclaimed angrily. "How can you sit there and say that I like him, as if you know me?! You've only talked to me three times in your life; you don't know me at all!"

"And how many times have you talked to Sasuke?" Tsunade cut in smoothly, making Gaara halt instantly.

"What's that got to do with anything?" He asked grumpily. Tsunade smiled at the fact that he had calmed down some.

"If I can't know that you like Sasuke from only talking to you three times, how can you tell that Sasuke's a spoilt bastard if you've only talked to him five or six times? You said it yourself, I don't know you. But you don't know Sasuke either. Not yet, at least. That's my point." Tsunade smiled and sat back, gauging Gaara's reaction. Gaara was trying to process that. He had absolutely nothing to retort with, because all he could think was: she's right. The evil, conniving psychologist was right. Fuck.

"You totally suck, logic," Gaara finally managed to say. Tsunade laughed and even Gaara had to smile at that. That seemed to be the end of the conversation for today and after a few minutes of comfortable silence, Tsunade had to leave to do some sort of job. Gaara was told he could either go back to class or stay in the office as Tsunade wouldn't be back any time soon. Gaara decided to just wait in the office for the last ten minutes of class.

After the bell rang, Gaara wandered his way over to the front gate of the school, half-hoping that Sasuke wouldn't find him. Sasuke quickly caught up with Gaara, just after he exited the school. "How did you manage that? I stood outside your class and waited for you to come out, but you never did. Now you're in front of me? That's just creepy, Gaa-chan." Gaara frowned at the nickname; it looked like it was going to stick.

"I was in the guidance counsellor's office." Gaara replied simply. "I go there every other day for sixth period." Sasuke frowned slightly at that; automatically taking the lead and heading off down a side-street.

"How long has this been going on?" He asked concernedly. "You don't need any counselling. You're perfect." Gaara snorted but replied anyway.

"Just this week. Apparently another student thought I needed counselling." Gaara informed Sasuke unconcernedly. The two continued to walk in silence for a minute while Sasuke processed this.

"Oh well. I've been waiting all day for this, Gaa-chan. When I finally get to bring you home with me. There're just a few things you should know before we get there: my father is head of the house, don't speak to him unless he asks you a direct question. My mother is extremely good at manipulating people and will try to get as much information out of you as possible, just be vague and you'll do fine. My brother is fine, but he might tease you a little or something like that, just ignore him. Don't mention anything about homosexuality at all or my father might throw you out of the house. And that's about all; we're nearly there. Just remember what I told you and you'll do fine." Gaara's head span. Why did he feel like he was taking some sort of exam, as opposed to just visiting someone's house? Regardless of his befuddlement, Gaara found himself taking his shoes off as he stepped into the front room of Sasuke's large house. Once again, Gaara found himself amazed at the décor of his friends' houses. Sasuke's house was much less imposing and ostentatious than that of Haku, but it was still an exquisite example of modern architecture. The floorboards were a polished redwood, with plush carpets covering all surfaces which had expensive antique furniture sitting on them. The ceilings seemed to be handcrafted to an elegant simplicity of carved frameworks. The walls were painted a delicate cream colour and were sparsely decorated, following the axiom "less is more" All in all, the house was incredible; all Gaara could take in, that is. He didn't notice the obsessively spotless ornaments or the fact that every tassel of the main rug pointed at exactly the same angle or that every clock in the house was accurate to a second.

"Good afternoon, Sasuke. And this must be your classmate you told us about," a voice of sweet, well-practised melody spoke from a room adjoining their current one. "Good afternoon...?" the statement was turned into a question.

"Gaara," Sasuke answered for him, which he found both relieving and degrading. He couldn't decide which was stronger though; his want to kiss Sasuke or his want to strangle the smug bastard with his own intestines. Gaara turned around, finally, to see a woman of immaculate beauty and stance. Her face was perfectly crafted into a mask of pristine regularity; as if it were a daily occurrence for one to look so magnificent. And, perhaps, for this woman, it was. There was something about her, though, that Gaara thought made her look very sad, very forced, much as he'd seen in the faces of pictures of geisha. Oh god. He'd just called Sasuke's mother a prostitute. Gaara was so glad that Sasuke couldn't hear what he was thinking...

"Well, Gaara, I hope you feel welcome and that Sasuke's a good host. Go on up to his room and I'll have cook make some refreshments for you," Sasuke's mother smiled and Gaara bowed his head.

"Thank you, Mrs Uchiha," he stated formally. She laughed beautifully and waved a hand, brushing aside his manners.

"Please, just call me Mikoto, Mrs Uchiha makes me sound like an old lady who sells blueberry pies for a living." Gaara frowned slightly at this strange analogy and was about to ask why blueberry when Sasuke took his arm by the wrist and lead him up an elegant and spotless stairway. Gaara barely had time to even glance at the rooms they passed on their way to Sasuke's room which seemed to be the highest room in the house, besides the attic, of course. Sasuke pushed Gaara inside his room, and quickly closed the door behind him, taking a screwdriver and firmly jamming it into a hole in the top of the doorframe. Now completely alone, Gaara was acutely aware of Sasuke's eyes on him as he looked around the room.

It was surprisingly normal, considering who he was dealing with. He had expected extravagance galore, but Sasuke just had the normal things that most teenagers have. An average sized television set, sitting on a set of ordinary oak drawers, a writing desk sitting in front of the window, a bedside cabinet with a lamp and a book sitting on it. Normal stuff. The bed was large, but not incredibly so, filling up one corner of the room and covered with black satin sheets and a dark blue duvet cover. But the thing that caught Gaara's attention, the thing he could not tear his eyes away from was a pair of dark blue boxer-briefs sitting on the floor beside the bed. There was something about the thought that those boxers had been on Sasuke recently, clinging to his most private of body parts, that made Gaara want to touch them, hold them to his face and smell Sasuke's scent.

Gaara looked over to the raven-haired male to see him smirking perversely. Oh shit. He had seen what Gaara was staring at, and would totally have the wrong message. He'd think that Gaara wanted to smell his boxers or something. Which may be true. Oh shit mother fuck! What the fuck was he going to do?! Sasuke snorted at the look of apprehension on his friend's face and sauntered over to his drawers and began rummaging through them, pulling out a pair of black pants and a black t-shirt. He laid them out on the bed and took his school shirt off. Gaara's mind exploded.

"Holy shit! What are you doing?!" he demanded exasperatedly as Sasuke unbuttoned his pants and pulled them off, leaving him in only a pair of white briefs. To Gaara's horror, and secret delight, Sasuke turned around.

"What? I'm just getting changed. It's not bad; we're both guys, right?" He replied logically, taking a step towards Gaara with a smirk plastering his face.

"Yeah, but you're a perverted, horny bastard and I can't trust my body to not-" Gaara cut himself off before he could finish that sentence. Sasuke's smirk widened and he slowly began to approach Gaara, who backed off until the back of his legs hit the edge of the bed.

"To not what, Gaara? Become hard like you did in History?" Sasuke asked as he continued to slowly close in on Gaara who had no way to escape. "Could it be that you, who has always denied it..." Sasuke trailed off seductively and brought his face right up to Gaara's, until they could feel each other's breaths. "...is attracted to me?" And with that, Sasuke leaned forward and kissed Gaara, who shivered and felt himself completely unable to do anything. Anything except kiss back and fall backwards onto the bed with Sasuke on top of him, that is. Gaara's mind was completely blank as his mouth was filled with Sasuke's tongue, and his body was touched by Sasuke's hands; one at his shoulder, one tracing down his chest. Sasuke's hands moved to the bottom of his school shirt and pulled it up, breaking the kiss as he got it over Gaara's head, then pulling the redhead back in before coherent thought could stop them.

Gaara's dick was so hard it hurt. He could feel Sasuke's erection pressing into his leg and wanted nothing more than to touch it. Any reason that could have stopped Gaara, was at this point thrown out the window, so he just let himself do what felt right. He kissed Sasuke back, shoving his tongue back into Sasuke's mouth and rubbing the raven's bare chest. The black-haired boy moaned and began grinding his crotch into Gaara's leg. Gaara, who had somehow gained control of the kiss, reached down and began to massage Sasuke's crotch. It was the most arousing thing he had ever experienced, having Sasuke's hips rocking forwards into his awaiting hand, but still it didn't seem to be enough. He wanted more; more touch, more contact, _more_ _Sasuke_. He got his wish as the other boy recovered himself enough to reach down between them and undo Gaara's pants, pushing them down and pausing their touch just long enough to get them completely off.

In the brief interim, Gaara noticed that he was now lying on his back, on Sasuke's bed, in only his underwear and how he really didn't mind. Then Sasuke was upon him once more, and his thoughts ceased beyond a primal instinct to satisfy as their erections pressed each other. Gaara rubbed his hands over Sasuke's shoulders and back before going down to grab his ass. He squeezed the tight muscles and felt his cock grow even harder at the sensation. He was holding onto Sasuke's ass. The only thing separating him from it was a thin pair of boxers. How utterly hot. Then he felt Sasuke's hands on his own ass and the feeling was mutual as the two humped and groped one another. One of Sasuke's hands ran up his thigh, slipping under his underwear to slip a finger in between his cheeks, stroking the tight ring of muscle there. The other moved round to massage his crotch. Gaara gasped and moaned at the feeling of Sasuke's hands on his most intimate self, as his own hands replicated the action on Sasuke.

The next of Sasuke's actions made Gaara blush at the memory for the next year. The black haired male turned around so his crotch was above Gaara's face, and his face was directly above Gaara's throbbing, still encased member. Without a second thought, Gaara leaned forward and inhaled Sasuke's musky scent through his underwear, basking in its masculinity; its raw sexuality. Sasuke did the same, taking it one step further and nuzzling his counterpart's groin. By unspoken consent, the two began to suck the other through their underwear, leaving a damp patch around their penis heads. How devastatingly sexy. The sensation was too much for both boys and before more than a minute, each climaxed, spurting out their seed into their underwear. Gaara pulled off as this happened, but Sasuke kept sucking, until he had filtered every drop through the material.

For some minutes, they just lay there, panting and basking in the afterglow. Gaara couldn't believe he'd just had a sexual encounter, his first in fact, with Uchiha Sasuke. The idea was so sexy; so unbelievably wondrous that it overwhelmed him and he started to laugh. He laughed and laughed and laughed. Sasuke sat up on the bed next to him and stared. The sight made him laugh even more. "Was I bad or something?" Sasuke asked, not quite managing to hide the hurt in his voice. Gaara managed to force himself to stop laughing at this. Almost.

"It's not that," Gaara reassured him in as controlled a voice as he could muster. "It's just the idea that I actually did that with someone as hot as you for my first time, and how good it was makes me really...happy. And it makes me kind of touched that you'd go that far with me. It makes me want to believe you that you actually...like me." Gaara said and was surprised to find that he was crying. Again. What was with this? Was it a part of letting people close to you, crying? Because if it was, that sucked! It sucked totally big, sweaty man-thigh! But, regardless of how much it sucked, Gaara couldn't stop crying. Sasuke's arms pulled Gaara onto his chest and made him shiver pleasantly, so full of emotion was he. Sasuke kissed Gaara's tears away.

"Shushhhhhhh..." he consoled gently. "Crestfallen soul, rest for this night. Love is here, right here, under my wings." Gaara smiled, while the tears poured down his cheeks and Sasuke rocked him slowly, cradling him in his arms. White Night Fantasy was, after all, one hell of a romantic song. But what neither boy had noticed was the pair of eyes and almost-white-haired head that accompanied them staring in through the window. Nor had Sasuke noticed the text he recieved telling him of a certain someone climbing up to his window to save him from the redhead. Happiness from lust may not live a full life, and often results in the tragic loss of innocence. Or STIs.

* * *

A/N: So that's the chapter. The ending is somewhat confusing and not very good, but I think the rest isn't half bad. Review or I will painfully torture you with pop music.


End file.
